

11 K I 



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Celebration of the Two Hundredth 
Anniversary of the Incorporation of the 
Town of Newton, Massachusetts, December 
27, 1888. 



Published by order of the City Council. 

UNDER DIRECTION OF THE CITY CLERK. 






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Boston, Printed by 
&forjJ 3L 2&antf, eighteen 
hundred and ninety-one 



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CITY OF NEWTON. 

(11030) Mayor's Office, City Hall, 

West Newton, Mass., Oct. 12, 1888. 
To the City Council: 

Gentlemen, — Newton was incorporated as a town in the year 1688. 
This being the two hundredth anniversary of that important event, I 
recommend that a committee be appointed to make arrangements for 
an appropriate celebration, and that a reasonable appropriation be made 
to defray necessary expenses therefor. 

J. Wesley Kimball, Mayor. 

CITY OF NEWTON. 

(11048) 

In the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Nov. 12, 1888. 

Ordered, That a Committee, to consist of His Honor the Mayor, three 
Aldermen, and such members as the Common Council may join, be and 
is hereby appointed to arrange for the celebration of the two hundredth 
anniversary of the incorporation of Newton as a town, and that the sum 
of $250, to be charged to Miscellaneous Expenses, be and is hereby 
appropriated to meet the expenses of such celebration, to be expended 
by the Committee herein appointed. 

Adopted. Aldermen George Pettee, Edwin O. Childs, and John 
Ward appointed, on the part of the Board of Aldermen. 

Isaac F. Kingsbury, Clerk. 

Adopted in concurrence by the Common Council. Councilmen Pres- 
ident Heman M. Burr, Frank J. Hale, Ephraim S. Hamblen, and Law- 
rence Bond appointed. 

John C. Brimblecom, Clerk. 

Approved Nov. 14, 18S8. 

J. Wesley Kimball, Mayor. 

CITY OF NEWTON. 

(11163) 

In the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Dec. 31, 18SS. 

Ordered, That the City Clerk be and is hereby requested to prepare a 
memorial volume of the celebration, Dec. 27, 1888, of the two hundredth 
anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Newton, and that five 
hundred copies of the same be printed for the use of the City Council 
and for distribution as follows, — one copy each to the Smithsonian Insti- 



tute, Washington, D.C., the State Library, the Newton Free Library, 
and the clerk of the towns of Brookline, Watertown, Weston, Wellesley, 
and Needham, and the clerk of each city of the Commonwealth, — the cost 
of same not to exceed $150, to be charged to the appropriation for Mis- 
cellaneous Expenses. 
Adopted. Isaac F. Kingsbury, Clerk. 

Adopted in concurrence by the Common Council. 

John C. Brimblecom, Clerk. 

Approved Jan. 7, 1889. 

J. Wesley Kimball, Mayor. 

CITY OF NEWTON. 

(12151) 

City Hall, West Newton, Mass., Dec. 30, 1889. 

To the City Council: 

By an order (n 163) approved Jan. 7, 1889, the City Clerk was author- 
ized to prepare a memorial volume of the two hundredth anniversary of 
the incorporation of the town of Newton, and the sum of $150 was 
appropriated for printing five hundred copies of same for use of the 
City Council and other distribution. The copy for printing could not be 
obtained till late in the year, and it appears that the amount appropriated 
is not sufficient to publish the volume in suitable or acceptable form. 

A fair estimate of the additional amount needed is $125. 
Respectfully submitted, 

Isaac F. Kingsbury, City Clerk- 

CITY OF NEWTON. 

(12162) 

In the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Dec. 30, 1889. 

Ordered, That the sum of $125 be and is hereby appropriated in addi- 
tion to the sum of $150 already appropriated for the publication, by the 
City Clerk, of the memorial volume of the two hundredth anniversary of 
the incorporation of the town of Newton, said amount to be charged 
to the appropriation for Miscellaneous Expenses. 

Adopted. Isaac F. Kingsbury, Clerk. 

Adopted in concurrence by the Common Council. 

John C. Brimblecom, Cle7'k. 

Approved Dec. 31, 1889. 

Heman M. Burr, Mayor. 



THE celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the 
incorporation of the town of Newton, covering so long 
a period, filled to repletion with historical interest and 
crowned with abundant prosperity, suggested difficulties as to the 
the character the celebration should assume. The season of the 
year precluded any out-of-door demonstration; and it was finally 
determined to confine the observance to a public meeting in the 
City Hall on the afternoon of December 27, to be followed by 
a banquet at Woodland Park Hotel. 

The Committee, in the performance of the most agreeable duty 
assigned them, met with ready response from those invited to take 
part in the exercises, and the people gathered with devout grati- 
tude to the Giver of all good for the mercies of the past and 
present, filled with hope and joyful expectation of blessings yet to 
come. Participating in the sentiments of the day, greetings are 
hereby recorded to those of the far-off future who shall " dwell in 
the land," successors to our homes and firesides, when another 
period of two hundred years, with all its wonderful changes, shall 
have passed. 

At the public meeting in the afternoon, the City Hall at West 
Newton was filled with an audience of the citizens of Newton, 
together with many invited guests; and the exercises were con- 
ducted substantially in accordance with the annexed programme. 

The Germania Orchestra, under the lead of Emil Mollenhauer, 
and composed of the following members : — 

First Violins, E. Mollenhauer, Carl Eichler; Second Violin, Percy C. 
Hayden; Viola, Julius Eichler; ''Cello, Alex. Heindl ; Basso, A. Stein; 



6 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

Flute, Paul Fox; Clarinets, E. Strasser, P. Metzger; Comets, Dr. R. 
Shuebruk, Benj. Bowron ; French Horns, E. Lippoldt, E. Schormann. 

rendered the following selections : — 

1. Overture, " Mignon," Thomas 

2. Concert Waltz, " Promotionen," Strauss 

3. Romanza, " Awakening of Spring," Ch. Bach 

4. " Loin du Bal," String Orchestra, Gillet 

5. Grand selection from " Tannhauser," Wagner 

Hon. Alexander H. Rice, a native of Newton and ex-Governor 
of the Commonwealth, was among those invited to be present ; and 
the regret which he expressed in being compelled to decline was 
equally shared by those who had been privileged to listen to his 

public addresses. 

For the Committee, 

ISAAC F. KINGSBURY, City Clerk. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Introduction, 5 

Order of Exercises, 9 

Invocation, Rev. Daniel L. Furber, D.D., Pastor Emeritus of 

the First Church, 13 

Introductory Address. Hon. J. Wesley Kimball, Mayor of the 

City of Newton, 15 

Address, His Excellency, Oliver Ames, Governor of the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts, 18 

Historical Address, Hon. James F. C. Hyde, First Mayor of 

the City of Newton, 20 

Address, Leverett Saltonstall, Esq., Collector of U. S. Customs at 

the Port of Boston, 4 2 

Original Poem, Rev. Samuel F. Smith. D.D., 46 

Address, John S. Farlow, Esq., 49 

Address, Hon. William B. Fowle. Third Mayor of the City of 

Newton, S 2 

Address, Otis Pettee, Esq., 5§ 

Address, Julius L. Clarke, Esq., First Clerk of the City of Newton, 63 
Benediction, Rev. George W. Shinn, D.D., Rector of Grace 

Church, 68 

Banquet, Woodland Park Hotel, 69 



Y E Two Hundredth Anniversary 



Of ye 



INCORPORATION OF Y E 



TOWNE OF NEWTON 




CITY OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 



CITY HALL, WEST NEWTON, 



Thursday, December 27, 1888. 



EXERCISES IN THE AFTERNOON, 

Commencing at Half-past 2 O'clock, 
His Honor, the Mayor, presiding. 



Music. Germania Band. 

Invocation. Rev. Daniel L. Furber, D.D. 
Music. 
Introductory Address. Hon. J. Wesley Kimball, Mayor. 

Address. His Excellency the Governor, Oliver Ames. 
Music. 
Address. Hon. James F. C. Hyde. 

Music. 

Address. Leverett Saltonstall. 
Poem. Rev. Samuel F. Smith, D.D. 



Music. 



Address. John S. Farlow. 



Address. Hon. William B. Fowle. 



Address. Hon. John C. Park. 



Music. 



Address. Otis Pettee. 



Address. Julius L. Clarke. 



Audience will unite in singing America. 



My country, 'tis of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, — 

Of thee I sing: 
Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the pilgrims' pride, 
From every mountain side 

Let freedom ring ! 



My native country, thee, — 
Land of the noble free, — 

Thy name I love : 
I love thy rocks and rills, 
Thy woods and templed hills 
My heart with rapture thrills 

Like that above. 



Our fathers' God ! to thee, 
Author of liberty, — 

To thee we sing : 
Long may our land be bright 
With freedom's holy light; 
Protect us by thy might, 

Great God. our Kinsj ! 



Benediction. Rev. George W. Shinn, D.D. 



TOWNE GOVERNMENT, 1688. 

Selectmen. 

LIEUTENANT JOHN SPRING. JOHN PRENTICE. 
THOMAS PRENTICE, 2d. DEA. EDWARD JACKSON. 

JOHN FULLER. ABRAHAM JACKSON. 

THOMAS GREENWOOD. 



CITY GOVERNMENT, 1888. 

Mayor. 
J. WESLEY KIMBALL. 



Board of A Mermen . 

President, GEORGE PETTEE. 

Ward 1. Edwin O. Childs. Ward 5. George Pettee. 

Ward 2. N. Henry Chadwick. Ward 6. John Ward. 

Ward 3. James H. Nickerson. Ward 7. James W. French. 



Ward 4. Frederick Johnson. 



Clerk, Isaac F. Kingsbury. 



Common Council. 
President, HEM AN M. BURR. 



Ward 1. Herbert H. Powell. 

Albert W. Rice. 
Ward 2. John A. Fenno. 

Edmund T. Wiswall. 
Ward 3. Lawrence Bond. 

Henry H. Hunt. 
Ward 4. Frederick J. Ranlett. 

Everett E. Moody. 



Ward 5. E. H. Greenwood. 

Frank J. Hale. 
Ward 6. Heman M. Burr. 

Henry H. Read. 
Ward 7. J. Charles Kennedy. 

Ephraim S. Hamblen. 

Clerk, John C. Brimblecom. 



PRAYER OF REV. DANIEL L FURBER, D.D. 



[Dr. Furber on rising for prayer remarked : " It was the custom of our fathers 
to stand during public prayer. If it shall seem good to you to do so at the 
present time, you will be honoring an ancient and venerable usage." The audi- 
ence then arose, and prayer was offered as follows: — ] 

O Thou who art from everlasting to everlasting, our God 
and our fathers' God, we bow and worship thee. One gen- 
eration goeth and another cometh, one century is gone and 
another has followed it, but thou art the same and thy good- 
ness is the same to thy dependent creatures. 

We have consecrated the hours of this day to the memory 
of thy distinguishing goodness to us as inhabitants of this 
favored city. How greatly hast thou blessed us ! Surely 
the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and we have a 
goodly heritage. As we recount the blessings which fill our 
cup and cause it to overflow, blessings of religion and of 
education, of temperance and morality, of liberty and law, 
and all the institutions of beneficence and charity, we cannot 
forget that we have entered into the labors of other men 
whose character moulded our institutions, whose principles 
drawn from thy holy word are the foundation of the Chris- 
tian society which we enjoy, and whose spirit lives in the 
air we breathe. We give thanks for their virtues formed 
amid hardship and privation, and for the strength of purpose 
and faith in thee which carried them triumphantly through 
the conflicts of their time ; for the undaunted heroism with 
which they encountered and overcame a lurking savage foe, 
and for the patience, fortitude, and courage with which they 
endured the long struggle for independence. We give 
thanks for the patriotism of our own times, in which many 
of our neighbors and friends so freely offered themselves for 



14 



TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 



liberty and union. We give thanks for the men who at dif- 
ferent times and in various branches of public service have 
lived lives of eminent usefulness, and who have been an 
ornament to our history, — for that apostolic missionary who 
brought the knowledge of salvation to the wigwams of the 
forest, and for all the faithful men who have ever stood in 
the pulpits of our town to proclaim the gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, or who have gone forth to labor as ministers 
or missionaries elsewhere. 

And now we ask that whatsoever in the past is praiseworthy 
may be equally characteristic of the present and the future ; 
that true religion may flourish, that we may have faithful 
ministers of the gospel, untrammelled instruction in our 
public schools, wise counsel in our city government. May 
our people keep in mind the virtues of their fathers, and in 
times of prosperity may they be kept from luxury and extrav- 
agance. Teach us the blessedness of Christian self-denial in 
doing good ; and may the men of the future whose homes 
shall adorn these hills and slopes, our children and our chil- 
dren's children, to the latest generation, find in their own 
blessed experience that happy is that people whose God is 
the Lord. 

Hear Thou our prayer offered in the name of Him who has 
taught us to pray, saying (the audience all joining), Our 
Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy 
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in 
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us 
our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the king- 
dom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS BY HIS HONOR 
MAYOR J. WESLEY KIMBALL 



We have convened to-day to celebrate an interesting and 
important event in the history of Newton, — the two hun- 
dredth anniversary of its incorporation as a town. It is 
appropriate that we should assemble to review its history 
and to consider its present condition, and from the past and 
the present to judge what may be its future. It will be in- 
teresting and instructive to trace the history and progress 
of the town for the two centuries ; to observe its growth and 
development from a sparsely settled town, possessed of only 
moderate means, to a populous, substantial, and wealthy 
city ; to note the many difficulties in both public and private 
affairs that were encountered by our fathers, the hardships 
endured, the sacrifices made, and the grand successes ulti- 
mately achieved. 

The successes were won under adverse and discouraging 
circumstances. They were attained by ceaseless industry, 
the exercise of sound judgment, undaunted courage, and 
fidelity to the unalterable principles of equity and justice. 

The fundamental principle of action which guided those 
who administered and co-operated in public affairs was to 
secure a government that would not only command obe- 
dience to law, but would also bestow the greatest good 
equally on all ; one that would be worthy of the support of 
an intelligent and liberty-loving people. 

Conforming to this idea, and appreciating the value of 
order and intelligence, the church was founded, so that re- 
ligious and moral truths might be disseminated. The public 
school was established, that the youth of the land might so 



l6 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

be taught that they could skilfully engage in the various 
pursuits of life and understanding^ perform the duties of 
citizens, that they might attain to the privileges and respon- 
sibilities and be eligible to the honors which may be con- 
ferred upon loyal American citizens. 

Time has not changed the principle nor lessened the vigi- 
lance necessary to insure a permanent and good government 
and the peace and prosperity of a free people. 

The exercise of constant care, the enactment of wise laws, 
and a liberal provision for general education are required 
now as then. 

Let us pay our tribute of respect and regard to those who 
so long ago laid the foundation of our liberties and pros- 
perity, who were devoted to the welfare of mankind, and 
whose lives were ennobled by heroic deeds. 

They have long since passed away : and now in the rest- 
ing-places of the dead sleep those who so actively and 
grandly performed the important and trying duties of their 
time. When we read their names inscribed upon the tab- 
lets erected to their memory, let us but speak their praises, 
and be thankful for the blessings they have bequeathed 
to us. 

Nature, I think, has been partial to Newton in beauty and 
healthfulness of location. The diversified and charming 
scenery, the wooded hills, the picturesque valleys, the salu- 
brious air, and the clear and sparkling waters of its lakes and 
murmuring brooks give it especial attractiveness to those 
who admire the beautiful in nature, and appreciate health 
and the strength and enjoyments derived from it. 

Newton has now become large and prosperous, and holds 
an honorable place among the cities and towns of the Com- 
monwealth. A liberal provision is made to supply the best 
means for the protection and safety of our people, and care 
is taken to suitably provide for their education, comfort, and 
convenience. 

The rapid and substantial growth of the city, the increase 
in population and in the number of buildings, are evidences 



ADDRESS— MAYOR KIMBALL 



•17 



that the policy which has been pursued was wise and bene- 
ficial, and that it has been generally approved. 

We are surrounded by cities and towns of historic in- 
terest, having universities and schools of learning, and a 
great variety of enterprises and industries. We are so near 
the metropolis of New England, one of the finest cities in 
the country, and access to it is so easy and rapid, that those 
whose interests attach them there find it equally convenient 
and comfortable to have their residences here. 

Judging from the past and present, and taking into con- 
sideration the natural advantages of location and the enter- 
prise, wealth, and culture of our citizens, it may safely be 
predicted that the future of Newton is destined to be one of 
marked growth and prosperity, and that the many villages 
which at present are somewhat separated from each other 
will become united, making a compact, beautiful, and great 
city. 



ADDRESS OF HIS. EXCELLENCY, OLIVER AMES, 
GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH.* 



Ladies and Gentlemen, — To-day you mark in this public 
manner the completion of two hundred years of growth as 
a separate civic organization. It is a pleasant and profitable 
custom to observe these anniversaries, and no enterprising 
Massachusetts city or town allows them to pass without 
fitting notice. Such commemorations as this are great 
teachers, putting in compact form the history of the past for 
the better instruction of the future. 

Now that this republic has sixty-five millions of people 
within its borders, a vast amount of wealth and mighty mate- 
rial development, it is difficult for us to estimate rightly the 
sacrifices and sufferings of the days when those who dwelt 
here formed not even a town, but simply a settlement in the 
wilderness, cut off from European civilization by the ocean, 
and confronted by boundless forests and waste places. 

I shall not attempt to review the history of this city, but 
I cannot omit saying something of its past. We know that 
it was settled early in the history of this part of our land, 
although it did not take a corporate name until nearly three- 
quarters of a century had elapsed from the landing of the 
Pilgrims. We know that it has ever been ready to meet 
any demands made upon it for the common good. In the 
days of our beginning as a nation, it did its part in promot- 
ing the general cause. In all our subsequent struggles for 
existence or for integrity as a nation, it has borne its part. 

*The governor was accompanied by the following members of his staff, in uniform : Major- 
General Samuel Dalton, Adjutant-General ; Colonel Albert L. Newman, aide-de-camp ; Colonel 
Augustus N. Sampson, Assistant Inspector-General ; Colonel Charles Wiel, Assistant Adjutant- 
General. 



ADDRESS— GOVERNOR AMES 19 

Through the changed conditions that have grown out of 
the War of the Rebellion, the extension of the railroad sys- 
tem, and the development of our industries, Newton has 
grown rapidly, but with a permanent growth. She is one 
of the most beautiful, as well as one of the most thriving, 
of the cities of the Commonwealth. As she has been in 
the past, she is now a community upon which reliance to do 
what is right, prudent, and just may be placed. In other 
words, she is a typical New England community. I but 
voice the sentiment of all her people in saying that Massa- 
chusetts is justly proud of the city of Newton. 

This ends my official speech. But I will say a few words 
more to you, in strict confidence, not to be repeated out of 
this hall. I bave discovered that there is a feeling of jeal- 
ousy toward Newton all over the Commonwealth. It is not 
a malicious jealousy, but rather a jealousy of admiration. 
You have made your city so beautiful, you have constructed 
such fine roads, you have built such beautiful homes, your 
citizens are so highly cultured, that Newton has come to be 
regarded as the model municipality of the Commonwealth. 

This is the testimony of many of the judges of the 
Supreme and Superior Courts. These justices are appointed, 
first of all, because they are men of sound judgment, because 
they are intelligent, because they are cultured, and because 
they know something of law. Often, after their appoint- 
ment, as a matter of convenience, they seek new homes. 
Of course, they want the best. They investigate for them- 
selves, and almost invariably they select Newton as the place 
of their new and permanent abode. This has so far become 
the rule that every new judge, who feels obliged to leave 
his old home, is expected to settle in Newton. 

So, when a governor is called upon to name a judge, he 
will say to the friends of the candidate: "Do you desire him 
to leave your town, your county ? Do you not know that, if 
I appoint him, he will surely move to Newton?" My 
advice to you is, Go on, and make your city as beautiful and 
as attractive as possible. If you continue to develop it, as 
you have,— and I have no doubt that you will do so,— I shall 
almost feel like coming here to live myself. 



ADDRESS OF HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE, 
FIRST MAYOR OF NEWTON. 



It is fair to presume that all present know more or less of 
the history of their native or adopted town. In the brief 
time allotted me only a few facts can be touched upon, the 
suggestion of which may lead some to further study of the 
history of Newton. Might it not be profitable for the schol- 
ars in our schools to devote some attention to this history, 
so that they may become more familiar with the lives and 
characters of those who laid the foundations upon which we 
are building, and from whose planting we are reaping such 
rich fruits? 

It is said by the historian that the settlement of Newtown 
— Cambridge — began in 1631. Its records commenced 
1632; proprietors' records, 1635. Cambridge, or Newtown, 
embraced a very large territory, which was subsequently en- 
larged by additional grants. In 1635 the General Court 
granted to Newtown land embracing the territory of what 
has since been Brookline, Brighton, and Newton, though 
that portion that is now Brookline was afterwards set off to 
Boston, where it remained many years, until it again became 
Brookline. 

In 1636, six years after the settlement of Boston, the Gen- 
eral Court voted ^400 for a school, or college, and the next 
year this school or college was located, by order of the same 
authority, at Newtown, — Cambridge. In 1638 Rev. John 
Harvard added ^800 to the amount appropriated by the 
General Court, and his name was given to the college. In 
1638 it was ordered that Newtown be called Cambridge, "in 
compliment to the place where so many of the civil and 
clerical fathers of New England had been educated." 






ADDRESS- HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE 21 

The territory south of Charles River, embracing what was 
Brighton and Newton, was first called "the south side of 
Charles River," or the "South Side"; sometimes Nonan- 
tum, the Indian name. About 1654 it began to be called 
« Cambridge Village," and, later, « New Cambridge and by 
authority of the General Court, "Newtown, after 1691^ , 
thus taking, after the lapse of years, the name of the old 
town of which this territory once formed a rather smaU part. 
For the first ten years, only seven families had settled on 
this territory; and of these seven two were Jacksons (the 
first settler in 1639 was John Jackson), two were Hydes, one 
Fuller, a Park, and a Prentice. All these, with one excep- 
tion, came direct from England. After these followed Par- 
kers Hammonds, Wards, Kenricks, Trowbndges, Bacons, 
Stones, and others, whose descendants are represented here 

° During the first twenty-five years from the time the first 
settler found a home south of the river, in what is now called 
Newton, twenty families had come in and located. In 1664 
there were twelve young men of the second generation. 

From the first settlement to the date of incorporation a 
period of forty-nine years, fifty families had settled on this 
territory. Dr. Smith says : « The number of freeze .within 
the limits of the town in 1688 was about sixty-five. Author- 
ities differ as to the exact area of this part of Newtown. In 
79 S," according to Homer, "it was reckoned to embrace 
I2 ; 94 o acres, including ponds." Another writer says that 
"in 1831 the town contained 14,513 acres - 

In 1838 eighteen hundred acres of this were set off to 
Ro.bury, and are now a part of Boston. In 1847 six hun- 
dred and forty acres were set off to the now city of Wal ham 
being that part of Waltham south of the river, and a few 
year & s ago a small portion near Chestnut Hill Reservoir was 
set to Boston, leaving, according to one estimate, 10,500 
acres as the present area of Newton ; or, by the other, 12,073 
acres- or if we add the two estimates together as given, and 
clivide by two -as modern juries do nowadays when they 



22 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

want to arrive at a verdict, — we shall find 11,286 acres, 
which is probably near the fact. 

The inhabitants of Cambridge Village knew what they 
wanted, and, knowing, sought to carry their point. During 
the last of the year 1654 or first of 1655, they took the first 
step toward gaining their independence, at which time 
they began to hold religious meetings for public worship in 
Cambridge Village, in the territory now Newton. They 
asked to be released from paying rates to the church at 
Cambridge, on the ground that they were to establish the 
ordinances of Christ among themselves, and distinct from 
the old town. The selectmen of Cambridge strongly op- 
posed this division, and declared that there was no sufficient 
reason for such separation, and also, to quote their own 
words, "We hope it is not the desire of our brethren so to 
accommodate themselves by a division as thereby utterly to 
disenable and undo the Church of Christ with whom they 
have made so solemn an engagement in the Lord, which is 
apparent to us will be the effect thereof." 

This was the beginning of a struggle for independence 
that lasted thirty-three or four years, and ended by the com- 
plete separation from the mother town. Let us follow this 
contest, step by step, until its consummation. 

In 1656 the people of Cambridge Village, having been 
denied their request the year before, appealed to the " Great 
and General Court to be released from paying rates for the 
support of the ministry at Cambridge Church." 

Of course the old town remonstrated, and the village 
people were given leave to withdraw, silenced for the time. 
They were not the men, however, to submit to what they 
believed to be an injustice, but quietly bided their time. 
Five years after, they presented another petition to the Gen- 
eral Court, asking for the same thing. 

They had been holding meetings for public worship for 
four or five years in a large room in a private house, and 
the year before this petition was presented (1660) had built 
the first meeting-house, which fact no doubt had its influence ; 



ADDRESS— HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE 



23 



and so in 1661 the Court granted them "freedom from all 
church rates for the support of the ministry in Cambridge 
and for all lands and estates which were more than four 
miles from Cambridge meeting-house — the measure to be 
in the usual paths that may be ordinarily passed — so long 
as the south side of the river shall maintain an able minis- 
try." 

The year following the granting of this request, the line 
was so run and the bounds so settled between Cambridge 
and Cambridge Village as to settle the matter of ministerial 
support, and also to establish substantially what afterwards 
became the line between Brighton and Newton. These 
people had gained this point, and started a movement that 
was only to end with their entire emancipation from Cam- 
bridge. The first meeting-house was built in 1660 or 61, and 
located on Centre Street, opposite the Colby estate ; and in 
July, 1664, when there were but twenty-two land-owners in 
the village, the first church was organized, and the Rev. 
John Eliot, Jr., son of the apostle to the Indians, ordained 
as its pastor. And this consummated the ecclesiastical, 
though not the civil, separation of Cambridge Village from 
Cambridge. 

The congregation of this church was composed of about 
thirty families, with about eighty members in the church, 
forty of each sex. 

Our sturdy ancestors were not yet satisfied ; and so, in 
1672, they again petitioned the General Court to set them 
off, and make them a town by themselves. In answer to 
this request, the Court in 1673 declared "that the Court 
doth judge meet to grant to the inhabitants of said village 
annually to elect one constable, and three selectmen, dwell- 
ing among themselves, to order the prudential affairs of the 
inhabitants there according to law ; only continuing a part 
of Cambridge in paying County and Country rates, as also 
Town rates, so far as refers to the grammar school, bridge 
over the Charles River, and their proportion of the charges 
of the deputies." 



24 



TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 



This action of the Court they refused to accept and act 
under, by which they would merely have become a precinct, 
though this was quite a step in advance ; for previous to this 
time the residents of the village had been permitted to hold 
few official positions. 

At the session of the General Court commencing May 8, 
1678, a lengthy petition was drawn up and signed by fifty- 
two freemen, setting forth many facts and humbly praying 
that they might be granted their freedom from Cambridge, 
and that they might receive a name, thus becoming a sepa- 
rate town. Cambridge remonstrated by their selectmen in 
quite severe terms. It declared that the petitioners "do not 
say words of truth." 

"They knew beforehand the distance of their dwellings 
from Cambridge, yet this did not obstruct them in their 
settlements there, but before they were well warm in their 
nests they must divide from the town." 

Alluding to what they had already been granted, and their 
repeated efforts to get free from the old town, they say : 
"All this, notwithstanding these long-breathed petitioners 
finding that they had such good success that they could 
never cast their lines into the sea but something was 
catched, they resolved to bait their hook again." They 
accused the freemen of the village of causing the old town 
" to dance after their pipes, from time to time, for twenty- 
four years, as will appear by the Court's record." 

And again, to use their words : " He is a murderer if he 
takes away that whereby his father or mother lives, and this 
we apprehend not to be far unlike the case now before this 
honored Court." They go on to say further : "All parties 
of this nature are condemned by the light of nature." 

"They who had grants from the heathen idolaters did not 
account it just that they should be dispossed by others ; and 
idolatrous Ahab, although he was a king, and a very wicked 
king also, and wanted not power to effect what he desired, 
and was so burthened for the want of Naboth's vineyard 
that he would neither eat nor sleep, and when denied by his 



ADDRESS — HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE 25 

own subjects, tendered a full price for the same ; yet he had 
so much conscience left that he did not dare seize the same 
presently, as the petitioners would be, so great a part of our 
possession as this, were it now in their power." 

They still further say that " those who live in town — 
Cambridge — are put to hire grass for their cattle to feed 
upon in the summer time, which costs them at least twelve 
or fifteen shillings a head, in money, for one cow, the 
summer feed : and corn land they have not sufficient to find 
the town with bread." 

" Cambridge is not a town of trade or merchandise as the 
seaport towns be, but what they do must be in a way of 
husbandry ; they having no other way of supply." 

"We must be no town nor have no Church of Christ nor 
ministry among us, in case we be clipped and mangled as 
the petitioners would have." 

Notwithstanding all this and much more of similar tenor, 
the General Court granted to Cambridge Village the right to 
choose selectmen and a constable and to manage the "mu- 
nicipal affairs of the village," substantially the same privi- 
leges that had before been granted in 1673, but which the 
village had never accepted. Dr. Smith says : " This was an 
important but not full concession on' the part of the Court ; 
but the people had to wait nearly ten years more before they 
fully attained the object of their desire. The attitude of the 
settlers in Cambridge Village was one of persistent deter- 
mination ; and, as if foreshadowing in those early days the 
spirit of the Revolution which occurred a century later, they 
stood firm in their resistance of everything which in their 
judgment savored of oppression." 

Jackson says, " The first entry upon the new town book of 
Cambridge Village records the doings of the first town meet- 
ing, held June 27, 1679, by virtue of an order of the General 
Court," at which meeting three selectmen and one constable 
were chosen, thus doing what they were authorized to do in 
1673. There is no record of another town meeting until 
Jan. 30, 1681. 



2 6 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

It appears by articles of agreement made as late as Sept. 
17, 1688, between the selectmen of Cambridge and the 
selectmen of the village, in behalf of their respective towns, 
referring to differences that have arisen as to charges for 
bridges, schools, the laying of rates, and some other things 
of a public nature, " that for the end above said the village 
shall pay to the town of Cambridge the sum of jQ$ in 
merchantable corn, at or before the first day of May next 
ensuing the date above, in full satisfaction of all dues and 
demands by the said town from the said village, on the 
account above said, from the beginning of the world to the 
nth of January, 1688, by the present style of reckoning." 

This brings us near the time when Cambridge Village 
was incorporated, as claimed by historians who have written 
later than Jackson. 

We find in the records of the village that in 1686 "a com- 
mittee was chosen to treat with Cambridge about our free- 
dom from their town." It is undoubtedly true that Cam- 
bridge Village, in a large degree, became independent of the 
mother town in the year 1679, when, Jackson says, the 
town was incorporated ; for they did from that time control 
the prudential affairs of the village ; but it is equally true 
that they were taxed together for several years after, for 
State and county and for some other purposes. It is cer- 
tain that they were not allowed to send a deputy to the 
General Court until 1688, when the separation was fully con- 
summated. The records of Cambridge — the old town — 
show that constables were elected for the village after 1679, 
every year until 1688, but none for the village after the latter 
date. Paige's recent History of Cambridge seems to entirely 
clear all doubts as to the true date of the incorporation of 
Newton. 

He was fortunate enough to find two documents which 
probably Mr. Jackson never saw. " One is an order of 
notice preserved in the Massachusetts archives," of which 
the following is a copy : — 

"To the constables of the town of Cambridge, or either 



ADDRESS— HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE 2 J 

of them ; you are hereby required to give notice to the inhab- 
itants of said town that they or some of them, be and appear 
before his Excellency in Council, on Wednesday, being the 
nth of this inst. to show cause why Cambridge Village may 
not be declared a place distinct by itself, and not longer a 
part of said town as hath been formerly petitioned for and 
now desired : and thereof to make due return. Dated at 
Boston the 6th day of January in the third year of his Maj- 
esty's reign a.d. 1687 By order &c J. West, D. sec'y." 

" What was the result of this process does not appear of 
record ; for the records of the council, during the administra- 
tion of Andros, were carried away. Fortunately, however, 
a certified copy of the order, which is equivalent to an act 
of incorporation, is on file in the office of the clerk of the 
Judicial Courts in Middlesex County." 

At a council held in Boston Jan. n, 1687, present his 
Excellency, Sir Edmund Andros, and seven councillors, 
an order was issued a part of which we give : " Upon the 
reading this day in the Council the petition of the inhabitants 
of Cambridge Village, being sixty families or upwards, that 
they may be a place distinct by themselves and freed from 
the town of Cambridge, to which at the first settlement they 
were annexed, they being in every respect capable thereof," 
it was "ordered that the said village from henceforth be and 
is hereby declared a distinct village and place of itself, 
wholly freed and separated from the town of Cambridge, and 
from all future rates, payments, or duties to them whatso- 
ever." The order further provided how Cambridge bridge 
should be supported. 

This order was signed John West, deputy secretary. 

Then followed, "This is a true copy taken out of the 
original, 4th day of December, 1688 : as attests: Laur. Ham- 
mond, Clerk." Dr. Paige adds : "There remains no reasona- 
ble doubt that the village was released from ecclesiastical 
dependence on Cambridge, and obligation to share in the 
expenses of religious worship 1661, became a precinct in 
1673, received the name of Newtown, in December, 1691, 



28 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

and was declared to be a distinct village and place of itself, 
or, in other words, was incorporated as a separate and dis- 
tinct town by the order passed Jan. 1 1, 1687-8, old style, 
or Jan. 11, 1688, according to the present style of reck- 
oning." 

It seems very strange that such an error should occur 
and be perpetuated for nearly two centuries, the town even 
adopting it and putting it upon its seal, where it remained 
for six years. 

After Cambridge Village was set off or incorporated, it 
was sometimes called New Cambridge, until 1691, when, in 
answer to a petition to the General Court, it was called 
Newtown, and the name was variously spelled, New-Town, 
Newtown, Newtowne, and Newton in the records, until 1766, 
when Judge Fuller became town clerk, and spelled it in the 
town records " Newton " ; and Newton it has been ever 
since. We have devoted much time and space to establish- 
ing the facts concerning the incorporation of Newton, be- 
cause Mr. Jackson in his history published, in 1854, gives the 
date as 1679, which has since been shown to be incorrect, 
both by Dr. Paige and Dr. Smith. After a careful exami- 
nation of the facts we are fully satisfied that they have fixed 
upon the true date. 

At this time ten of the first settlers had passed away. 

Sixty families were dwelling within the limits of the town. 
We give a few brief items relating to the people living on 
these broad acres from 1639 onward. 

In 1643 six acres of land were conveyed on payment of 

In 1645 "there were in all of Cambridge 135 ratable 
persons, 90 horses, 208 cows, 131 oxen, 229 young cattle, 20 
horses, 37 sheep, 62 swine, and 58 goats." 

" In 1647 the town bargained with Waban, the Indian 
chief and first convert to Christianity, to keep six score 
head of dry cattle on the south side of Charles River." 

" 1656, persons appointed by the Selectmen to execute 
order of General Court for the improvement of all families 
within the town in spinning and manufacturing clothes." 



ADDRESS — HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE 29 

In 1650 wild land sold for one dollar and a quarter per 

acre. 

1676, town meeting called to consider the matter of forti- 
fying the town against Indians. 

In 1691 first couple married in Newton after it was incor- 
porated. 

1693, town paid 20s. for killing three wolves. 

The two following years paid a bounty for killing wolves. 

1699, voted to build a school-house 14 x 16 feet. 

1700, hired a schoolmaster at five shillings per day. 
1707, paid twelve pence per dozen for heads of blackbirds. 

Voted to choose two persons to see that hogs were yoked 
and ringed according to law. 

171 1, voted to have collections taken up Thanksgiving 
Days for the poor. 

1 717, vote passed to prevent the destruction of deer. 

Same in 1741. 

1796, voted to have a stove to warm the meeting-house. 
The same year, voted that the deacons have liberty to sit out 
of the deacons' seat. 

1800, voted to disannul the ancient mode of seating parish- 
ioners in the meeting-house. 

In 1646 Rev. John Eliot first attempted to Christianize 
the Indians at Nonanetum, or Nonantum, where a company 
of them were located on land that had been bought by the 
General Court of the white owners and set apart for the use 
of the Indians. This tract of high land was considerably 
improved by them by the building of wigwams, walls, and 
ditches about the same, and the planting later of fruit-trees. 

By advice of Mr. Eliot, tools and implements were sup- 
plied, as well as money to enable them to develop and im- 
prove their village. Homer says : — 

" The women of Nonantum soon learned to spin and to col- 
lect articles for sale at the market through the year. In 
winter the Indians sold brooms, staves, baskets made from 
the neighboring woods and swamps, and turkeys raised by 
themselves ; in the spring, cranberries, strawberries, and fish 



30 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

from Charles River ; in the summer, whortleberries, grapes, 
and fish. Several of them worked with the English in the 
vicinity in hay-time and harvest." 

The author of " Nonantum and Natick " says : "Here at 
Nonantum Hill was begun the first civilized and Christian 
settlement of Indians in the English North American colo- 
nies. This was the seat of the first Protestant mission to 
the heathen, and here Mr. Eliot preached the first Protes- 
tant sermon in a pagan tongue." 

This was preached in the large wigwam of Waanton, or 
Waban, where a considerable number of Indians were as- 
sembled to hear this first sermon, which occupied over an 
hour in its delivery. The text was from Ezekiel xxxvii. 
9, 10. 

This Waban — whose name signified "wind," or "spirit" 
— was the chief man of this Indian village, and was called a 
" merchant." He seems to have been the man of business. 
" Perhaps he went to Boston sometimes to sell venison and 
other game which he had either taken himself or bought 
from other Indians." He was the first convert to Christian- 
ity, and lived a consistent life, dying in 1674, aged seventy 
years. 

Newton thus enjoys the rare honor of having within its 
borders the spot made sacred by the labors of the apostle 
Eliot, whose saintly life and heroic service in the cause of 
the Master resulted in the civilization and Christianization 
of many of these sons of the forest. These Nonantum 
Indians seem to have been pretty bright and keen heathen, 
judging from some of the questions they put to the white 
men, a few of which are here given. One woman in- 
quired "whether she prayed when she only joined with 
her husband in his prayer to God Almighty." Another 
inquired "whether her husband's prayer signified anything 
if he continued to be angry with her and to beat her." 
Another asked " how the English came to differ so much 
from the Indians in their knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, 
since they had all at first but one Father " ; another, " how 



ADDRESS — BOX. JAMES E. C. HYDE ^l 

it came to pass that sea water was salt and river water 
fresh." 

The people of Newton from the very first took great in- 
terest in military affairs. The men of Newton took a prom- 
inent part in all the Indian wars. They were in King 
Philip's and subsequent wars with the Indians, as well as in 
the old French and Indian War. Some lives were lost in 
this service, among them Colonel Ephraim Williams, the 
founder of Williams College. He was shot in the mem- 
orable battle fought with the French and Indians near Lake 
George, in September, 1755. 

Of the part taken in the War of the Revolution by the 
inhabitants of this town, it has been well said that, "almost 
to a man, they made the most heroic and vigorous efforts to 
sustain the common cause of the country from the first hour 
to the last, through all the trying events which preceded 
and accompanied the war." 

Our fathers were jealous of their rights; and, while they 
were willing to stand by the government, they were not the 
men to submit to any injustice. From time to time they 
met in town meeting to consider important questions relat- 
ing to the condition of the country. In December, 1772, a 
town meeting was held, and a committee appointed to con- 
sider and report what it may be proper for the town to do 
relating to the present unhappy situation of the country. 

In 1773 they instructed their representative, Judge Ful- 
ler, to use his influence against the salaries of the judges of 
the Superior Court being fixed and paid by the Crown in- 
stead of by the Great and General Court. They were jealous 
of their rights, even though remotely assailed. It is prob- 
able that not a person in the colonies at this time seriously 
entertained the thought of taking up arms against the mother 
country, but relied upon constitutional methods only for the 
redress of their grievances. 

Later, during the same year, a large committee was chosen 
" to confer with the inhabitants of the town as to the expe- 
diency of leaving off buying, selling, or using any India tea." 



32 



TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 



On Dec. 16, 1773, there was a famous tea-party in Boston, 
such as never was seen before nor has been since. Newton 
was represented on that occasion by two or more of its cit- 
izens. One in particular, who drove a load of wood to 
market, stayed very late that day, and was not very anxious 
the next morning to explain the cause of his detention ; but, 
as tea was found in his shoes, it is not difficult to under- 
stand what he had been doing. 

The following year, 1 774, the town adopted a series of res- 
olutions, declaring they would not voluntarily and tamely 
submit to the levying of any tax for the purpose of raising 
a revenue, where imposed without their consent or that of 
their representatives ; and that any and all persons who 
advised or assisted in such acts were inimical to this coun- 
try, and thereby incurred their just resentment, and in such 
light they regarded all merchants, traders, and others who 
should import or sell any India tea until the duty, so justly 
complained of, should be taken off. They further pledged 
themselves that they would not purchase or use any such tea 
while the duty remained upon it. 

A committee was appointed to confer with like commit- 
tees of sister towns as occasion required. During the same 
year the town voted that the selectmen use their best discre- 
tion in providing firearms for the poor of the town, where 
they were unable to provide for themselves. In October of 
the same year the town sent delegates to the Provincial As- 
sembly at Concord, and the next year to a meeting of the 
same at Cambridge. Early in the year 1775, the town voted 
to raise men to exercise two field-pieces that had been given, 
and also to raise a company of minute-men, and thus be pre- 
pared for any emergency. 

This action furnishes the explanation of the fact that 
Newton had so many men engaged in the battles of Lex- 
ington and Concord. 

On the 19th of April, 1775, a day ever memorable in the 
history of our country, when the first battles of independence 
were fought at Lexington and Concord, Newton had three 



ADDRESS— HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE 33 

organized companies of minute-men, all of whom were pres- 
ent and took part in the battles of that historic day, during 
which they marched about thirty miles. 

The two hundred and eighteen men composing these three 
companies were not all that Newton sent to the battle-fields 
that day ; for many went who had passed the military age 
and so were exempt from duty, but who felt as did Noah 
Wiswall, the oldest man who went from Newton, and whose 
son commanded one of the companies, and who had other 
sons and sons-in-law in the fight. He could not be induced 
to remain at home, because, as he said, " he wanted to see 
what the boys were doing," and, when shot through the hand, 
coolly bound it up with a handkerchief, and brought home 
the gun of a British soldier who fell in the battle. 

Colonel Joseph Ward, a master of one of the public 
schools, — a Newton man, — took a very active part. On the 
19th of April he left Boston for Newton, took horse and gun, 
rode to Concord, to animate and assist his countrymen. He 
also greatly distinguished himself at the battle of Bunker's 
Hill, where he served as aide-de-camp to General Artemas 
Ward. 

Soon after these earlier battles two companies were raised 
in Newton. In March following, these companies with 
others took possession of Dorchester Heights, which proved 
a short service, as on the 17th of that month the British 
evacuated Boston, much to the joy of the good people of 
that town. 

Soon after, one of these companies joined in an expedition 
to Canada. On the 17th of June, 1776, the first anniversary 
of a day made memorable in the annals of our country by 
the heroic struggle on Bunker's Hill, where Newton was 
well represented, and two weeks before the Declaration of 
Independence, our forefathers in this busy season of the 
year left their fields and quiet homes, and gathered in town 
meeting to discuss and pass upon a matter of vital impor- 
tance to them, their posterity, and the world. At this town 
meeting, where Captain John Woodward was moderator, the 



34 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

second article in the warrant was : " That in case the honor- 
able Continental Congress should, for the safety of the 
American colonies, declare them independent of the kingdom 
of Great Britain, whether the inhabitants of this town will 
solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support 
them in the measure." After debate, the question was put, 
and the vote passed tinavdmonsly. 

These bold and memorable words meant the sacrifice of 
comfort, fortune, home, friends, and life, if need be, for the 
right to govern themselves and enjoy the privileges of free- 
men. In winter's snows and summer's heats, the men of 
Newton, old and young, able and disabled, were found filling 
the ranks of the little American army. They formed a part 
of nearly every expedition, and were found on nearly every 
field, from the opening battles of Lexington and Concord to 
the final surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. 

Newton, then a little country town with only about 1,400 
inhabitants, entered upon the War of the Revolution with 
great vigor and spirit. Contributing liberally both men and 
means, as she always has done and always will do when her 
country calls, no town in Massachusetts can show a more 
honorable record. It is said by the historian that nearly 
every man in Newton served in the army some time during 
the war. 

The history of the world scarcely affords a parallel to all 
our fathers did and suffered during the long struggle they 
endured in the sacred cause of liberty. Let us not forget 
that Newton enjoys the honor of having been the birthplace 
of one of the immortal band of men who signed the Decla- 
ration of Independence, — Roger Sherman, — a name em- 
balmed in the hearts of his countrymen as well as on the 
pages of history. 

Of the part Newton took in the War of 1812 little is 
known, but it is no doubt true that the sons of such worthy 
sires were not found wanting when the country was in need. 

Let us briefly consider Newton in the war of the Great 
Rebellion. From the opening gun fired on Sumter April 12, 



ADDRESS — HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE 35 

1861, until the close of the rebellion Newton nobly per- 
formed her part. 

She furnished at least thirty-six commissioned officers, 
two generals, and 1,129 soldiers who formed a part of thirty 
regiments. 

These men gave themselves to their country in the hour 
of her need, and went forth in her defence. 

Where duty called, they were found, — whether amid the 
malaria of Southern swamps, on the march, leading a forlorn 
hope against the enemy, or in vile prison pens, — the men- 
tion of whose names brings a thrill of horror to all hearts. 

They fell by the way on' the long and tedious marches, 
they died of homesickness or wounds in the hospitals, they 
went down before the rush of the enemy and were killed or 
reported missing, and never again heard from. They endured 
privations and hardships such as we cannot comprehend ; and 
they did it all without murmur or complaint for the love and 
respect they had for the heroes of '76, and their regard for 
the liberty and good name of their country, for their homes 
and firesides, and the still more tender regard for the dear 
ones in those homes whose prayers and good wishes never 
ceased to follow them amid all their sufferings. 

They loved their homes and firesides as we do ours, but 
loved their country more. 

The spirit that actuated them was well illustrated by one 
who said, " If my country needs my services, I am willing for 
her sake to make the sacrifice." This was Charles Ward, 
a worthy son of one of the first settlers, who cheerfully gave 
his life at Gettysburg. 

Our ancestors early recognized the importance of educa- 
tion, and all through the two centuries that have passed 
since its incorporation Newton has made the most liberal 
appropriations for its public schools, thus standing in the 
front ranks among the many cities and towns of the Com- 
monwealth. 

In addition to all this it has within its borders a Theolog- 
ical Seminary of world-wide reputation, a seminary for young 



36 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

ladies, and an English and classical school, as well as others 
of lesser note. 

Early in the history of Massachusetts slavery was intro- 
duced, and it is not surprising that some slaves should have 
been found in Newton. The records show that at least 
thirty-six were mentioned in the inventories of deceased per- 
sons, and there were probably others. Slavery is supposed 
to have received its death-blow in Massachusetts, about 1783. 

Newton, of course, in its early days was a purely agricult- 
ural town, and its farmers were prosperous and well-to-do 
for those times, and built for themselves here and there over 
its broad area homes that were comparatively comfortable, 
but which would hardly compare with many of the palatial 
residences which we see to-day. 

But as early as 1688, the very year of the incorporation of 
Newton, a mill was built at Upper Falls, where there was 
a considerable waterfall on Quinobequin, or, later, Charles 
River. 

Still later other mills were located along the river, some 
for the manufacture of lumber, cloths, nails, cotton goods, 
paper, and other articles, all of which helped to extend the 
industries of this growing town. 

Fifty years ago, two of these manufacturing villages — 
Upper Falls and Lower Falls — exerted a controlling influ- 
ence in town affairs. 

The intelligent citizens of Newton early took a deep inter- 
est in the cause of temperance, and as early as Dec. 15, 
1826, "a meeting was held which took active measures on 
the subject, and by a circular addressed to the inhabitants of 
the town sought to create a general interest in regard to it." 
Later, a constitution was adopted and the society received 
the name of the "Newton Friendly Society." This was prob- 
ably the first local organization of its kind in New Eng- 
land, with one exception. This society afterwards estab- 
lished a library of several hundred volumes ; and it also 
originated the Institution for Savings in the Town of 
Newton, now the well-known and prosperous Newton Sav- 



ADDRESS — HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE 37 

ino-s Bank. The whole movement was conducted by the 
best and most influential men of the town. 

In 1 798 a library was formed at West Parish, called the 
West Parish Social Library; and it was provided that it 
should be of the value of $150 at least. The Adelphian 
Library, formed by the Temperance Society, was the next in 
order ; and both of these were finally merged in the West 
Newton Athenaeum in 1849, which library is in a prosper- 
ous condition to-day. In 1848 the Newton Book Club was 
formed, which later took the name of the Newton Literary 
Association, and from this small beginning has come the 
magnificent Free Public Library of Newton, which contains 
many thousand volumes. Large sums were contributed 
by individuals to establish this library before it became the 
property of the city. 

There was a Free Library formed at Newton Centre in 
1859, and in 1873 all the books were donated to the Newton 
Free Library. In 1869 a free library was established at 
Lower Falls, and subsequently one at North Village. 

"In imitation of the churchyards of England, the first 
cemetery was around the first church." Later burial- 
grounds were located at West Newton, one near Upper 
Falls and one at the Lower Falls. Of these resting-places 
of the fathers, many interesting facts could be given, would 
time permit. 

The growing town demanded additional provisions for the 
burial of its dead, and in 1855 the Newton Cemetery Cor- 
poration was organized, which has resulted in establishing 
one of the most beautiful rural cemeteries to be found in 
New England. 

An attempt was made to divide this fair domain. The 
agitation began about 1830, and continued until about 

1 848-49. 

Some of us can well remember the strong feeling that 
was aroused by the agitation of the subject, so strong as to 
alienate friends and lead to bitter words. Fortunately, no 
division was effected ; and we have remained a united, pros- 
perous, and happy people to this day. 



38 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

As early as 1813, this town had a Fire Department, to 
which many of the prominent citizens belonged. 

In 1842, the engines in use being too small, the town 
voted twenty-four hundred dollars for the purchase of four 
engines, provided each of the villages where the engines 
were to be located would add two hundred dollars more. A 
year later, a similar appropriation was made for another vil- 
lage. A steam fire-engine was purchased in 1867, another 
in 1S71, and a third in 1873. This was followed by the in- 
troduction of the Electric Fire-alarm. 

Fire apparatus of the most modern construction, with all 
necessary equipment, has made our Fire Department noted 
for its efficiency. 

Newton, as a town and city, has always provided gen- 
erously for its poor. In 1824, John Kenrick, a generous cit- 
izen, created a fund "to aid the needy industrious poor of the 
town, especially such widows and orphans as had not fallen 
under the immediate care of the Overseers of the Poor." 

This fund has been faithfully administered from that time 
to this, and has proved a source of comfort to many. Would 
time permit, we could speak of the Cottage Hospital, the 
Pomeroy Home, the Pine Farm School for boys, and other 
similar charitable institutions that have been established 
here. 

Before Newton became a city it had taken action looking 
to the introduction of pure water, and the town was author- 
ized to take water from Charles River. This act was ac- 
cepted in 1872. Subsequent acts enlarged the powers of the 
city, and it was decided to put in a system of water-works. 
These were completed in 1876, at large expense; and New- 
ton has enjoyed from that time the luxury of pure water in 
abundance. 

Among the many advantages enjoyed by Newton are the 
railroads within its limits. As early as May, 1834, the Bos- 
ton & Worcester Railroad was opened to Newton, nearly a 
year before it was completed to Worcester. 

This was the first passenger railroad in this part of the 



ADDRESS- HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE 39 

country. The trains were few, and the accommodations 

^AspTed 'Tien' to twelve miles an hour then, instead of 
forty-five to fifty now. This road was laid out through 
Angler's Corner!- now Newton,- Hull's Crossing,- now 
Newtonville,-and Squash End,- now West Nekton. 

These villages were very small, and the only ones on that 
side of the town except Lower Falls to which a branch rail- 

oad was built some years later. Anburnda e came ,n o 
existence after the main line was built. In the year .852 
the Charles River Branch Railroad was opened from Brook- 
line to Newton Upper Falls, having stations at Chestnut 

Hi,, Newton Centre, Oak Hill,- now Newton Highlands. 

This road under another name was extended to Woonsocket, 

R The construction and running of these roads gave an im- 
petus to building, and several of the stations have become 
centres of large and flourishing villages. Though the two 
raflroads already in existence well accommodated a 1 passing 
to and from Boston, there was no easy commumcation from 
one side of the city of Newton to the other, and the idea 
vas eonceived of building a railroad connecting the two 
ailroads together, forming the Newton Circuit from Newton 
Highlands to Riverside. This work was accomplished 
" : ely through the efforts of the writer, and the road was 
o, e°n d May 15, .886, thus connecting by rail nearly all the 
vflla'es of Newton, and forming a belt line such as ,s found 
in few other towns or cities on the continent. 

A ong this connecting link Eliot, Waban, and Woodland 
stations are located. Newton cannot fail to enjoy m the 
future even greater prosperity than in the past, and a large 
increase in her population and wealth. 

The good people of the town were not tmm.ndful of the 
advantages of public parks, and among the latest acts of the 
town Wore it became a city was to appoint a committee to 
xL into consideration the subject of parks and play-grotmas 
for the town. This action led to the establishing of Farlow 
Park, to be followed, we trust, by others. 



4<3 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

The town having outgrown its old form of government 
and having a population sufficient to entitle it to become a 
city, a town meeting was held April 7, 1873, and by a large 
vote it was decided, after a lengthy debate, to petition the 
General Court, then in session, for a city charter, which was 
granted. In October following, the voters accepted " An 
Act to establish the City of Newton." Under this new 
form of government we have enjoyed increased prosperity. 
Let us in imagination go back to 1639, when all this terri- 
tory was a primeval forest ; when over these hills and along 
these valleys roamed the wolf and the deer ; when the river 
and lakes swarmed with fish, and on their unvexed surface 
the wild fowl rested securely ; when the smoke still ascended 
from the wigwam of the Indian on Nonantum Hill, and the 
sons of the forest as well as the pale-faced settler found their 
way from point to point along blazed paths, which were later 
to become bridle-ways and still later town-ways and high- 
ways, and finally, as we see them to-day, magnificent and 
well-kept avenues, lined on either side with beautiful trees, 
some of which have sheltered the red hunter of the forest, 
while along these streets are reared the homes of a prosper- 
ous and happy people. 

The years went slowly by, and life with our ancestors on 
these broad acres was one of severe toil and hardship. The 
land must be subdued amid many dangers and brought under 
cultivation to supply the wants of the growing families of the 
first settlers and those that were added to their number from 
time to time. 

It is not easy for those reared amid the comforts and lux- 
uries of life to realize what our ancestors endured in their 
efforts to lay broad and deep the foundations for future 
towns and cities. 

Amid hopes and fears life went on, and in 1688 the growth 
and progress had been such as to justify the incorporation 
of a town whose fame was to go sounding down through the 
centuries. 

Our fathers builded better than they knew. Two hundred 



ADDRESS — HON. JAMES F. C. HYDE * Y 

years have passed since the legal incorporation of Newton, 
then a small town with a very sparse population, now a city 
of more than twenty-one thousand inhabitants. Then with 
a single church, and that a very poor and inexpensive one: 
now twenty-six or more churches, some of them costing be- 
tween one and two hundred thousand dollars. Then here 
and there a lane or town-way : now more than one hundred 
and thirty miles of well-kept streets. Then no school-house 
on this territory : now those of magnificent proportions, 
with schools of all grades, with a large and excellent corps 
of teachers, besides private academies and higher institu- 
tions of learning. Then only here and there a farm with 
its low farm-house : now beautiful villages, costly business 
blocks, palatial residences, well-kept villas and cosey cot- 
tages, all showing enterprise, culture, and taste. How great 
the change from the scattered town in the wilderness, two 
hundred years ago, to the rich and flourishing city of to-day ! 

Standing on the heights of these closing years of this 
nineteenth century, and looking back over the long roll of 
years since Newton began its existence in the "forest pri- 
meval," we cannot fail to realize the remarkable progress of 
the two centuries that have passed. Our hearts swell with 
emotion as we call to mind the grand characters and heroic 
deeds of the noble band of men and women who here laid 
broad and deep the foundations upon which we are building, 
and who helped to secure for us the rich blessings of civil 
and religious liberty. 

As we contemplate the past and appreciate the present, 
may it stimulate us all to higher aspirations and greater use- 
fulness, that we may prove worthy sons of such noble sires ! 



ADDRESS OF LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, ESQ., 

COLLECTOR OF U. S. CUSTOMS, 

PORT OF BOSTON. 



I am not a native of Newton, and have had small oppor- 
tunity to prepare a fitting address for this occasion, but 
should be hardly true to the town where I have passed the 
most important and larger half of my life, were I to refuse 
the earnest request of our mayor to address you, if only in a 
few brief words. 

No one can have lived in this beautiful place for over 
thirty years without being impressed by its numerous at- 
tractions, favored as it is in every way by nature, and ren- 
dered more desirable as a place of residence by all that its 
worthy citizens can devise for the promotion of health, com- 
fort, education, and intelligence. 

There is, I believe, no town or city in the neighborhood of 
Boston which can compare with Newton. Her commanding 
hills, each offering an extensive panorama peculiar to itself, 
all exquisite, but none alike ; her lovely meadows and valleys ; 
her beautiful river, gracefully and gently winding around her 
borders, furnishing her people with purest water ; her sweet, 
invigorating air, bringing health, especially to those whose 
good fortune it is to live on her higher plains and hillsides ; 
her roads of such unrivalled excellence ; her admirable 
schools and numerous churches ; her pretty cottages and 
handsome villas, resting in their well-kept lawns and gardens ; 
her intelligent and thrifty population, — all constitute Newton 
the gem in the coronet of beautiful towns and cities which 
environ the metropolis. 

Let us ever be proud of her, and be grateful, too, that our 



ADDRESS— LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, ESQ. 



43 



lines are cast in such pleasant places. May we ever be 
ready to speak for her, to work for her, and by our individual 
and united effort to defend her against every open or covert 
foe, that her homes may be free from vice and intemper- 
ance, her schools true to their well-earned reputation, her 
officers above suspicion, and her church bells never be 
silent ! 

So shall we hand down to posterity the rich legacy 
received from the fathers, for which they labored and toiled 
as never before nor since have men labored and toiled. 

The early history of Newton has always seemed to me to 
be in one way especially interesting, and quite above the 
story of the dull, dreary routine of toil and drudgery which 
fell to the lot of most of the other towns ; for was it not here 
that John Eliot, that true apostle, labored to teach the poor 
Indian the great truths of Christianity ? 

I know no more touching tale in our early history than the 
account handed down to us of these poor sons of the forest 
seated around Eliot, — who had after years of careful study 
mastered their language, — eagerly drinking in his words, and 
tearfully questioning him. 

" Did God understand Indian prayers ? " 

" Were the English ever so ignorant as the poor Indians ?" 

The confession of Waban, too, the first Christian convert, 
before he died, might well bring tears to the eyes of any one 
reading it, in view of the sad fate of these native tribes. 

What a shame to our race that the work of this noble 
apostle should have been allowed to perish with him, and 
that the original owners of the soil should have been aban- 
doned to the contamination of vice and disease, to be fol- 
lowed by annihilation ! 

I hold in my hand a sermon which I accidentally found 
among some old papers, printed in 1723, entitled " Q?iestion, 
whether God is not angry with this country for doing so little 
toward the conversion of the Indians." "Discourse by the 
Reverend and Learned Mr. Solomon Stoddard of North 
Hampton," in which the good man exclaims: "The profes- 



44 



TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 



sion of those that adventured into this country was that it 
was their principal design to bring the Indians to the knowl- 
edge of the true God and Saviour of mankind, and to the 
Christian faith, and it would have been the honor of the 
country if they had answered that profession." "And, if a 
spirit of love toward Jesus Christ had flourished in us, it 
would be the joy of our hearts to see congregations of Ind- 
ians waiting on God in His house, joining in prayer, hear- 
ing the Gospel, and celebrating the memory of the death of 
Christ." "And it is matter of shame," the good man goes 
on to say, " that, when others are carrying the Gospel many 
thousands of miles from their own country, we suffer them 
that dwell among us and that are borderers to us to lie in 
darkness, and afford them very little help for their deliver- 
ance." 

And as the reverend gentleman preached one hundred and 
sixty-five years ago, so we say to-day. All the more then 
beams out the bright and shining light of brave John Eliot, 
gifted with "tongues," the inspired teacher, like Paul at 
Athens, declaring the "unknown God" to Waban and his 
tribe. 

Though my fathers were not among the early settlers of 
Newton, yet must they have trodden her soil and have been 
familiar with her streams, her hills and meadows. For, 
when Governor Winthrop and Sir Richard Saltonstall, after 
landing at Salem in 1630, left with their friends and follow- 
ers to seek settlements, Winthrop stopped at Shawmut ; but 
Saltonstall, with that excellent man, the Reverend George 
Phillips, journeyed on through the wilderness, untrodden by 
the feet of white men, till he came to a " spot well watered " 
on the Charles, where he rested and commenced a planta- 
tion, calling it Watertown. This was sixteen years before 
Eliot preached to the Indians at Nonantum, and fifty-eight 
before the incorporation of Newton. 

Then, again, I see that in 1640 this town "granted to 
Samuel Shepard a farm of 400 acres of upland, adjoining 
unto the meadows which were sometime in the occupation 



ADDRESS — LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, ESQ. 45 

of brother Greene for Richard Saltonstall." So that there 
can be traced a strong probable link of friendship between 
the sons of Sir Richard and the first settlers of Cambridge 
Village, as it then was, — ancestors of some of my esteemed 
friends and townsmen. 

All important events in the history of our country, from 
its earliest infancy, are so carefully preserved and handed 
clown from generation to generation that they can be re- 
called at stated intervals ; and so we can, fortunately, on the 
recurrence of anniversaries and centennials of these events 
revive our interest in them, bring them vividly before each 
generation, and thereby heighten our veneration for the 
brave, the true-hearted, pious founders of our beloved Com- 
monwealth. But, above all, should gratitude to Him who 
supported our fathers through all their trials and sufferings 
fill our hearts and animate us with zealous ardor to live as 
worthy sons of such a parentage. 

I know of no celebrations half so interesting as these cen- 
tennials. The pictures of the past are held before us and 
our children, to be by them handed down in undying colors 
to posterity. 

Here, then, is the sheet-anchor of the great Republic ; and 
so long as our children and our children's children shall cher- 
ish this precious history of the fathers, and shall earnestly 
recur to it for inspiration, so long will our institutions be 
secure, so long will Church and State rest each on its stable 
foundation. The waves of fanaticism, of infidelity, of blind 
and senseless sectarianism, aye, even of anarchism, will beat 
against them in vain. "The rock shall fly from its firm 
base " sooner than they shall perish. 

The landings of the Pilgrims and of the Puritans of the 
Massachusetts Colony, the settlements of the towns, of the 
churches, of the colleges, the events leading up to the con- 
test for independence, the Revolution, with all its heart-stir- 
ring incidents, have been celebrated in anniversaries and 
centennials ; and may God grant the time may never come 
when they shall cease to be observed ! 



/ 



NEWTON'S TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY. 



POEM. 



BY S. F. SMITH, D.D. 

With filial love and reverent thoughts, we scan 
The glimmering dawn in which the town began : 
How, one by one, with spirits brave and true, 
The founders left the old and sought the new, 
Pitched their frail tents upon the virgin sod, — 
Indians their neighbors, and their helper, God; 
Taught the wild savage from rude strife to cease, 
And learn the nobler arts of love and peace. 

Good men and wise, — men of both brawn and brain, — 

From tangled woods they wrought this fair domain ; 

Planted an acorn from a foreign oak, 

Where wild winds whistled and the tempests broke ; 

Watched it and watered, as it upward grew, — 

Child of the sun and storm, the frost and dew. 

'Twas wreathed around with clouds, blue, white, and red, 

And a whole heaven of starlight overhead. 

They loved and guarded it by day and night, 

Beneath its shade sat with profound delight, 

And taught their sons the reverent love to share 

Of those who nursed the tender sapling there. 

Brave oak ! see how its honored head it rears, 
Stands peerless in its majesty of years, 
Laughs at the echo of the centuries' tread, 
And bids the living emulate the dead. 

Whence came the founders of this rising State, — 
The fair, the fond, the beautiful, the great ? 
Some, with strong muscle, skilled to build or plan, 
Came from the workshop of the artisan ; 
Some from the polished town, the school, the mart, 
Some from the farm ; while some, with loving heart, 



POEM—S. F. SMITH, D.D. 47 

Linked to some noble soul, in youthful bloom, 
Dared to the forest to transplant the home ; 
By the sweet grace of woman to refine, 
To shed around her path a light Divine, 
The faint adventurer's courage to sustain, 
To raise the fallen to life and hope again, 
And help the sire to bear the weary load, 
Strengthened and stayed by woman's faith in God. 

Such were the fathers of the little flock, 
And such the mothers, brave to bear the shock 
Of hopes deferred, till — the fair model made — 
The deep foundations of the town were laid. 

I see, as backward now I turn my eye, 
The quaint but grand procession filing by : 
Jackson and Fuller, Prentice, Hyde, and Park, 
Bacon and Hammond, Kenrick, Ward, and Clarke, 
Wisvvell and Eliot, Trowbridge, Spring, and Stone, 
Parker and Williams, Hobart, Bartlett, — known 
As men of substance, brave, and wise, and good — 
Their light still shines, — an honored brotherhood. 
All, all have passed : their noble deeds remain, 
As the sweet summer sun and dew and rain 
Pass from our sight and sense, but re-appear 
In golden harvests, — crown of all the year. 

What found they here ? those souls so brave and true, — 

Risking the well-known old for the unknown new. 

A forest home, lands rough and unsubdued, 

Absence of early friends, a solitude ; 

No civil state, no patent of the free, 

But taxed by Cambridge for the right to be ; 

The savage war-whoop struck their souls with dread, 

The Indian arrows round their dwellings sped, 

And many a timid heart, with bodings drear, 

Kept Lent of hope and Carnival of fear. 

What have they brought us ? See ! these fair domains, — 

The fruit of patient toil and wearying pains ; 

The fame of wise men, destined still to grow; 

The fame of progress, real, if often slow ; 

The hum of study in our learned halls ; 

The grace and beauty of our pictured walls ; 



4 8 



TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NE WTO N 

Our noble churches of enduring stone ; 

Our public gardens with their sweet flowers strewn ; 

The fame of men who firm in battle stood, 

And bought the rights of freemen with their blood, 

And in the nation's struggle won the field, 

Too wise to compromise, too brave to yield, 

And walked unshrinking through the deadly fires, — 

The patriot sons, alike, and patriot sires. 

These are our jewels, these our joy and boast, 
Worthy the toils they brought, the wealth they cost, — 
A rich return for efforts, zeal, and fears, 
Blest harvests of these great two hundred years. 



ADDRESS OF JOHN S. FARLOW, ESQ. 



Mr. Mayor and Ladies and Gentlemen, — When I came 
here this afternoon, I found — much to my surprise — on 
the printed order of exercises that my name was there for 
an address. 

Now, sir, a formal address is to me something appalling. 
I never made one in my life; and I cannot possibly entertain 
the idea of making one at this time, to such an assemblage as 
this, and I shall not attempt it. I should, however, be want- 
ing in duty to this my adopted city, and to the ladies and 
gentlemen here assembled, if, on an occasion like this, I 
failed to respond to the invitation so kindly tendered me by 
his Honor, the Mayor, and say something, however feeble, 
that might possibly add interest to the event we are now 
celebrating. 

If, sir, I had been present at the laying of the corner- 
stone of Newton, as our friend Otis Pettee was, or even, if 
like our friend J. F. C. Hyde, I had had a hundred and odd 
years' experience as the presiding genius of Newton's town 
meetings, I might, like them, be able to discourse eloquently 
of those ancient days, and tell of the valiant deeds of the 
then inhabitants of the town in repelling the assaults of 
ruthless savages, and to speak in glowing terms of the sa- 
lubrious climate, undulating hills, and pleasant valleys of the 
town ; of its lovely Charles River, pursuing its tortuous 
course to the sea; the delightful scenery bordering the head- 
waters of the classic Cheesecake Brook ; and the excellence 
of its churches and public schools. I might also be able 
to tell of the raisings, the huskings, and quiltings, and of 
the nut-cracking, apple-eating, and cider-drinking with which 



50 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

those patriarchs were wont to regale themselves at their 
winter firesides. Some of these we still enjoy. We have 
the same salubrious climate, the same undulating hills and 
pleasant valleys, the same lovely, tortuous Charles River, 
and the same classic Cheesecake Brook. We have also 
churches in greater number and variety, with creeds and 
without. We have also the very best of public schools, 
ample in number for our increased population, divested, I 
hope, of all sectarian influences, whether Protestant or Cath- 
olic, Gentile or Jew. I sincerely trust they will ever remain 
so ; for on the character and excellence of our public schools 
more than on anything else depends the perpetuity of our 
free republican institutions. These, as I said before, we now 
enjoy as they did in the days long past ; but in all else 
how changed ! Instead of their wells and well-sweeps, we 
now have an excellent system of city water-works, that dis- 
tributes — at small cost to each — pure water to every house 
in town. For their tallow dips, we of to-day's Newton have 
substituted kerosene oil, electric lights, and illuminating gas. 
Gas of the other sort they probably had as well as we. 

We have also well-appointed fire and police departments, 
which they neither had nor needed. For their happy fire- 
side feasts we can only offer in comparison those we now 
enjoy at our Woodland Park Hotel, where our friend Lee 
(that prince of caterers) dispenses choice morsels of canvass- 
back duck, terrapin, soft-shell crabs, and other appetizing 
delicacies, not so wholesome perhaps as what they had, but 
more grateful to the vitiated taste of these modern times. 
The Newton of to-day has but few poor people, and still 
fewer of those who nowadays would be called rich ; but we 
have instead a well-to-do, middling class of active, industri- 
ous, enterprising men, who are not only independent finan- 
cially, but also in all matters of religious and political 
thought and action, — men who know and esteem each other 
for what they are, as men. Newton is a quiet, peaceable, 
well-governed town, and has been ever since I have resided 
in it. 



ADDRESS— JOHN S. FAR LOW, ESQ. 5 x 

From close personal observation for the past thirty years, I 
say, unhesitatingly, that there is no better governed town or 
city in this country or any other. If, Mr. Mayor, we can be 
assured of as good an administration of government as you 
and those who have preceded you have given us, we shall be 
fortunate indeed. Colonel Saltonstall has just told us that 
he came to Newton to reside more than thirty years ago. 
He and I, therefore, can claim a timely fellowship as citizens 
of Newton ; for it is now thirty-one years since I pitched my 
tent on Nonantum hillside. Thirty-one years, sir, is a long 
period for one to dwell in one place ; and few there are that 
do it. 

For me, those thirty-one years have been thirty-one years 
of constant, pleasurable enjoyment. My children and my 
grandchildren have grown up around me to man's and 
woman's estate, under the benign influence of Newton's 
public schools and other institutions and associations ; and I 
know that they, too, have and will ever hold in grateful 
remembrance all that Newton has done for them and me. 
I indulge the hope, sir, that I am to have further years of 
enjoyment, and am consoled with the assurance that, when 
my days are ended, my body shall be laid at rest under six 
feet of good Newton soil. 



ADDRESS OF HON. WILLIAM B. FOWLE, THIRD 
MAYOR OF NEWTON. 



On occasions like this, it is well to recall the past, and 
once again, while renewing our own memories of great 
events, place upon record our appreciation of those events. 
The time allotted to me, within the limits of which I am to 
speak to you of the public spirit of Newton, in peace and in 
war, is but short, and only admits that I touch briefly upon 
salient points. 

Whenever in the past great emergencies have called for 
action, or public good has demanded expenditure, or the un- 
fortunate have needed assistance, Newton has responded 
with no doubtful tone. Her exertions, her sacrifices, her 
wealth, her lives, have ever been freely offered and given, 
when required for the general welfare. 

The public spirit contained within a community is all em- 
braced within three forms of its expressions : — 

First. In its corporate capacity, the willingness of all to 
submit to assessment pro rata to wealth, for the advantage 
of all. 

Second. The action of individuals in rendering service or 
in voluntarily contributing wealth towards the promotion of 
the general welfare. But few can enjoy this latter pleasure, 

— those only to whom has been intrusted the wealth essen- 
tial to its indulgence. 

Third. That abnegation of self, under which hardships 
are voluntarily encountered, and property, comfort, home, life, 

— in fact, all that we hold dear on earth, — are risked to pro- 
tect or preserve the existence of the community. 

In each and all of these several types of public spirit, 



ADDRESS -HON. WILLIAM B. FOWLE 53 

Newton has ever shown herself worthy. The pride in her 
cherished by her citizens is fully justified. 

To-day we see around us manifold evidences of Newton's 
care for the comfort, improvement, enjoyment, and safety of 
its inhabitants. Its school-houses and liberal expenditures 
for education far exceed the requirements of law. We see 
it in the beauty and solidity of the public structures, m the 
water supply, the fire department, the Public Library, the 
almshouse, the military, police, and roads. All of these bear 
witness to the fact that its government in the past has re- 
garded the general good, and liberally passed the measures 
essential to that good. Nor has it failed to exhibit its appre- 
ciation of public spirit, as fully shown by the memorial mon- 
ument to its dead soldiers. 

The liberality of its individual citizens is equally evident. 
Throughout a long life, J. Wiley Edmands in many ways 
proved his love for Newton, and, as the crowning proof, left 
to it the beautiful Public Library Building. 

In the same spirit, a citizen yet among us gave the taste- 
ful chapel at the cemetery. 

The same spirit is exhibited in those charitable institu- 
tions which are entirely supported by voluntary contribu- 
tions, the Girls' Home, the Boys' Home, and the Cottage 
Hospital, all of them performing loving service for the relief 
of the needy and suffering. 

Still the same spirit caused those legacies —the Kennck 
Fund and the Reed Fund. 

None but those whose duty it has at times been to dis- 
tribute the income from the Kenrick Fund can appreciate 
the amount of good effected by it. A small sum, its annual 
income but some two hundred dollars, yet that small sum, 
bestowed in accordance with the donor's wish, "to deserv- 
ing persons, pressed by circumstances, but not recipients ot 
public alms," has lightened many a heavy burden. It was a 
thoughtful and delicate bequest. 

The Reed Fund is similar in its objects. This tender 
charity, as yet but of short existence, has already yielded 



54 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

health and enjoyment to a class whose opportunities for 
enjoyment are few indeed. 

To great necessities occasioned by calamities occurring 
beyond her own limits, the citizens of Newton have ever 
promptly and liberally contributed. The extent of such 
contributions is rarely known, because such offerings are 
usually made through Boston, in which city mostly lie the 
business interests of our citizens. From want of time, 
many other deserving cases of service rendered to our com- 
munity must remain unnoted here. 

But the evidences of public spirit thus far claimed and 
noted, beautiful as they are, do not reach to the highest type 
of this quality. They involve only the parting, to a greater 
or less extent, with this world's goods. Beyond and above 
them should be placed a yet nobler test of public spirit, that 
which involves the risk of all that man holds dear on earth, — 
property, comfort, home, life. 

Such public spirit as this has permeated the entire past 
of this grand old town. Hardships to be borne, fortune to 
be parted with, life to be yielded up, — such calls Newton 
has ever promptly met and nobly answered. 

Two hundred years ago Newton contained but some sixty 
families, an intelligent, manly, honest nucleus for the great 
nation that has since grown from them and such as they. 
The only settlement was in or near to what we now call 
Newton Centre. The remainder of the town's area was still 
primeval forest, the hunting-grounds of the Indians. 

The great danger of those times arose from the hostility 
of the Indians to the settlers. From this danger Newton, 
although she feared them and took precautions against them, 
proved to be happily exempt. This exemption was princi- 
pally due to the labors of the apostle Eliot, who gained great 
influence over Waban, the chief of the tribe then resident 
here, and through him induced a friendliness towards the 
white men, which enabled the two races to live in peace 
together. This fact undoubtedly aided in preserving the 
white men of Newton from the attacks of hostile tribes of 



ADDRESS— HON. WILLIAM B. FOWLE 55 

Indians, which swarmed about them, at no great distance 
and in all directions. 

Had our settlers lacked public spirit, they might have 
quietly remained in comparative security, and have left their 
neighbors, less happily located, unaided by them to contend 
against the attacks and massacres to which they were often 
subjected. Not such the temper of Newton's men ! His- 
tory tells us that these true hearts were constantly leaving 
their homes, intrusting their dearest to the care of the great 
Father, and aiding in the protection of other settlements 
needing such aid. Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, 
and Rhode Island, all, at various times, bore witness to the 
public spirit of these, Newton's earliest inhabitants. 

Such were our ancestors of that generation. They passed 
to their reward. A new generation, reared in the enjoyment 
of the peace bequeathed by their fathers, themselves inex- 
perienced in war, arrived at manhood, when to them came 
also the crowning test of true citizenship. They also re- 
sponded as nobly as had their ancestors. 

History has preserved so much of Newton's share in the 
war of the Revolution that I need but briefly dwell upon it. 
In 1775 culminated the contest with Great Britain, which, 
fot ten years had been gradually increasing in bitterness. 
Newton, in common with the entire country, had been much 
aggrieved at the unjust and arbitrary measures enforced by 
Great Britain, and had bravely shown its dissatisfaction by 
resolutions passed as events called them forth. During this 
period, peaceful measures only were employed, in the hope 
that the mother country might be induced peacefully to 
right the wrong. Nevertheless, Newton had prepared for 
war, — had armed all its men and organized military com- 
panies. 

That little army from Newton, which on April 19, 1775, 
left its home to march to Lexington, will ever merit and 
receive the fullest meed of praise that can be awarded to 
deserving citizens. They had parted with all whom they 
held most dear, had imperilled the future of those dear ones, 



c;6 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

had risked the loss of all that their past labors had enabled 
them to earn, had taken the first steps towards years of cer- 
tain hardship and suffering, which could only be shortened 
or relieved by death or success. They realized, they knew, 
all this. They knew the overwhelming resources of the power 
they thus dared. Their hearts must have been lacerated and 
their utmost fears excited by the peril thus thrown upon 
their loved ones. As thoughtful men, during that trying 
march, they must have pondered upon these things ; yet, 
true to the core, they faltered not. Colonel Michael Jack- 
son and his two hundred and eighteen men deserved all hon- 
ors which can be earned by man, and they have them. This 
little force contained a full half of the men of Newton. 
They fought at Lexington and at Concord ; and, owing to the 
prudent preparation in their organization, they fought with 
signal ability. We cannot now realize the anxieties and 
hardships suffered and borne by our noble old town through- 
out the seven years of war which followed, but the public 
spirit of Newton met all this with the same vitality as of 
old. 

Peace came at last. The generation which bore the burden 
of the war of the Revolution, counting its life's work done, 
bequeathed peace to its successors, and went to its reward. 

Another long term of peace, another generation grown to 
manhood amid peaceful pursuits, another crisis calling for yet 
another exhibition of patriotism, another response from old 
Newton, another uprising equalling all that had gone before. 
To the army and navy, in the War of the Rebellion, Newton 
supplied over 1,100 men, fully one-half of the number of its 
legal voters. That same public spirit was yet alive and 
active. 

Who of us can fail to remember the doubts which hung 
over us when first it became certain that we must fight ? 
Our distance from the presumed seat of the coming war, our 
lack of previous belief that war must come, our hitherto 
peaceful lives, undisturbed by a thought of war, — all these 
might have resulted, to say the least, in delay to our response 



ADDRESS — HON. WILLIAM D. FOWLS en 

to the call for troops. No such delay occurred. Again New- 
ton proved herself worthy the renown bequeathed by her 
Revolutionary sires, again the men of Newton freely risked 
their all on earth for the nation's benefit, and again deserved 
and won their portion of the nation's gratitude. 

Have we yet forgotten how great is our debt to these 
men? I think not; yet I pray our citizens to remember 
that the same manhood which caused these men to answer, 
" Ready ! " at the time of trouble, may, and I believe does, 
cause them to maintain silence as to themselves and their 
own necessities. 

The pride we to-day take in Newton is fully justified. 
Ever desiring peace, she has, when necessity forced, sought 
that peace through war. Often tried, never wanting, she 
has ever been nobly true to herself ; and her citizens have 
shown themselves deeply imbued with that noblest trait in 
man, — love for his fellow-man. 



The enforced absence of Hon. John C. Park caused universal regret. 
Infirmities of age and the inclement season prevented his active partici- 
pation in the celebration. He had not prepared a written address, but 
his well-known gifts of oratory would have graced the occasion, had he 
been able to be present. 



ADDRESS OF OTIS PETTEE, ESQ. 



Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, — After what has al- 
ready been so ably and eloquently said of our beautiful city, 
and its early history and progress to the present time, there 
is but little, if anything, left for me to say. Therefore, I 
will only put in a few nows and thens, by way of variety, in 
comparing the pioneer life and customs of a hundred years 
ago with the life of the present day. 

It is fair to presume that the aspirations of the early set- 
tlers were to provide homes for their families, a shelter for 
their live stock and farm productions, and a few implements 
of husbandry to assist in earning a living ; but the luxuries of 
life were left by them for generations to follow. 

I think I have heard it remarked by the late and vener- 
able Seth Davis, Esq., that in the days of his early childhood 
there were but three family carriages owned in Newton, one 
by General Hull, one by Dr. Freeman, and one by General 
Simon Elliot. Riding upon horseback or in the ordinary 
farm wagons very likely was the principal mode of con- 
veyance. My impression is, it would take considerable time 
to go through the assessors' books to ascertain the number 
of family carriages owned in Newton to-day. 

The early settlers lived in small and unpretentious dwell- 
ings. We particularly call to mind the old Cheney house 
that stood in the south-west part of the town, near the Upper 
Falls. This house was built in 1702 by Mr. Joseph Cheney, 
grandfather of the late General Ebenezer Cheney. The 
frame of the house was of heavy oak timber, the lower story 
was wainscoted with thick oaken planks, to resist the force 
of a stray arrow or bullet. One side of the living room was 



ADDRESS— OTIS PETTED, ESQ. 



59 



entirely occupied by a mammoth open fireplace and oven. 
We remember, too, the old Queen's arms and other military 
accoutrements hanging upon the walls, together with sundry 
utensils of husbandry, etc. The old house, having fulfilled 
its mission, was pulled down in the spring of 1857. 

Now we live in large and costly mansions of Queen Anne 
styles or Mansard type of architecture, which have profuse 
outside embellishments both of carving and paint. 

Then huge back-logs, with andirons and foresticks, sur- 
mounted by sticks of wood of lesser proportions, made a fire 
in winter weather worthy of its name. A fire built in this 
way would usually last from three to four weeks, by occa- 
sionally being replenished with a few small sticks. To 
build such a fire required the assistance of all the neighbors 
near by. I have heard my father say that, when he was a 
lad, he went with his father to assist in getting in a back- 
log that was more than two feet in diameter and six feet 
long, and green from the forest. After getting it in position, 
the smaller sticks were placed upon it until the pile was 
nearly six feet high. The brands and embers from the old 
fire were placed in front of the pile, and the new fire was 
kindled. 

Now a boiler in the basement furnishes steam for a sys- 
tem of radiators in the various compartments of our houses, 
which gives a comfortable and even temperature throughout 
the building. 

Then fire would be obtained with a tinder-box, flint, and 
steel, or with matches the boys would split out in their leis- 
ure moments and dip in melted brimstone. 

Now a slight scratch of a lucifer match upon any hard 
substance will immediately produce a flame. 

Then an evening's light the fire on the hearth would not 
provide would be supplied by burning pine knots, or tallow 
dips, or by vidders hung upon a crane. 

Now a hand — it may be miles away — pulls a lever, and 
the land and our dwellings are, or may be, flooded with a 
powerful electric light. 



6o TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

Then water for domestic use was procured from wells or 
springs, near by or more remote, by lowering a bucket hung 
upon a horseshoe attached to the end of a pole, or by the 
improved method of a well-sweep, which consisted of a long 
pole balanced upon a crotchet at the top of a post, — the butt 
end of the pole was weighted with a heavy block of wood or 
stone fastened upon it, — and from the opposite end there 
was suspended a smaller pole with a bucket for lowering into 
the well. This appliance for drawing water has been im- 
mortalized by Woodworth in his charming lyric of "The Old 
Oaken Bucket." 

Now by a turn of a faucet in the lavatory pure water flows 
in abundance. 

Then a signal to a neighbor, if there should chance to be 
one living within sight, or to the marketmen or bakers that 
occasionally made the circuit of the settlements, would be 
given by hanging a strip of white or colored homespun from 
an upper window or other conspicuous place. 

Now a turn of a crank, an ear-trumpet, and speaking-tube, 
with a "hulloa," is all that is required to open a conversation 
with any parties, however distant. 

Then the wives and daughters carded their wool and spun 
the yarns with their great spinning-wheels for hand knitting 
and weaving articles of clothing for their families. 

Now the same work is done by power machinery in our 
large manufactories, and we go to the emporiums and pur- 
chase every variety of ready-made goods for domestic uses. 

With all the primitive methods of earning a livelihood, our 
ancestors were not unmindful of the necessity of bringing up 
their sons and daughters to become men and women of good 
sound integrity and moral character, and to give them an 
education that would enable them to occupy with honor any 
station in life they might be called upon to fill. 

They were a progressive people, and, although a few slaves 
were once owned in Newton, the system was looked upon as 
a curse to any community, and soon stamped out. 

Intemperance in the use of strong drinks was another 



ADDRESS— OTIS PETTEE, ESQ. 5j 

blight which they did not lose sight of, as well as of sundry 
other moral reforms unnecessary to enumerate at this time. 

Therefore, the measure of indebtedness we owe to genera- 
tions gone before for our present beautiful homes and the 
luxuries about them is difficult to compute ; and we may well 
be proud of the enviable rank we hold in the galaxy of cities 
around us. 

As a matter of history, I will say that, in crossing the 
bridge over Charles River between Newton and Watertown 
a few days since, my attention was arrested by a stone tablet 
placed upon the bridge at the right-hand side and near the 
centre of the river, with the following inscription engraved 
upon it : — 

"This bridge built in 1719, and was then known as the 
Great Bridge, and the first one built in the State." 

I find in the town records of Cambridge that an appro- 
priation of two hundred pounds lawful money, towards build- 
ing a bridge over Charles River, was made, and that the 
bridge was built about 1660, and was called and long known 
as the Great Bridge. 

And in Holmes's History of Cambridge there is re- 
corded an order of the selectmen that timber bought for the 
fortifications be used for repairing the Great Bridge, and 
that the bridge was rebuilt in 1690 at the expense of Cam- 
bridge and Newton, with some aid from the public treasury. 

Dr. Paige's History of Cambridge gives a detailed ac- 
count of the conception and building of a bridge across 
Charles River, and the citizens of Cambridge agreed to con- 
tribute two hundred pounds towards its construction, and 
that the bridge was completed before March, 1663. This 
bridge was larger than any previous bridge built in the col- 
ony, and was called the Great Bridge. 

In 1734, it was provided that a draw in said bridge, not 
less than thirty-two feet wide, should be constructed, at an 
equal distance from each abutment, and that the opening in 
the middle of said draw should be the dividing line between 
Cambridge and Brighton at that point. 



62 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

This bridge as described by Messrs. Holmes and Paige 
was built more than fifty years before the Watertown bridge, 
and is conceded by all authorities to be the bridge across the 
river near Harvard Square in Cambridge ; and I think it is 
the second bridge below the arsenal bridge between the 
lower part of Watertown and Brighton Corner. 



ADDRESS OF JULIUS L. CLARKE, ESQ., FIRST 
CLERK OF THE CITY OF NEWTON. 



Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, — There are some 
people in the world who regard lineal descent or pedigree as 
of little or no account, unless dating far back into the cen- 
turies or shrouded in some mysterious antiquity. With all 
deference to freedom of opinion, and with loyal veneration 
for ancestral honor and distinction, yet claiming no special 
prestige as a lineal representative of Newton's earlier set- 
tlers, it may suffice for me to say that about one generation 
ago important interests prompted my selection of a home in 
West Newton, familiarly known in old-time prosaic vocabu- 
lary as "Squash End." And so, friends, although my New- 
ton pedigree reaches back only a single generation, I am 
proud to add even my humble tribute to this memorial ser- 
vice, and to the city of my home, in connection with some 
of whose departments of municipal administration you have 
from the first honored me with responsible trust. 

Without trespass upon history already so well and perti- 
nently cited, permit me a word in emphasis of the welcome 
fact that Newton to-day takes her place in the historic and 
distinguished procession of towns and cities which have pre- 
ceded her in the observance of their two hundredth anniversa- 
ries. The occasion therefore furnishes a fitting opportunity for 
taking account of stock, — in other words, the social, moral, 
intellectual, and material wealth which has become the 
crowning glory of Puritan and Pilgrim Newton. I say Puri- 
tan and Pilgrim with no thought of sectarian or partisan im- 
plication ; for, irrespective of any and all differences, sup- 
posed or otherwise, whether in creed, polity, or practice, both 



6 4 



TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 



were brought by lineal descent and by succession into New- 
ton's common fellowship and interest. Both were consci- 
entious in their faith and example ; yet neither were perfect. 
Both had their faults, as we have ours ; and so it is that 
none of us are ever too old to learn, nor ever so wise that 
we may not become wiser, nor ever so good that we may not 
become better. But, aside from all this, that Puritan and 
Pilgrim ancestry richly merit our most grateful and reverent 
regard. Their spirit and purpose were noble, patriotic, and 
progressive. Their achievements were grand and far-reach- 
ing. In all this toilsome yet glorious struggle for the estab- 
lishment of principle and right, and for the richest fruitage 
of practical thrift, living faith, and conscientious integrity, 
their aims were loyally cherished and faithfully exemplified 
through their own and descendant generations, and often 
from the executive chair of the Commonwealth, as happily 
evidenced by its present occupant, from a Pilgrim ancestry, 
whom we welcome to-day as our guest. 

But, returning to our account of stock, we find that ever 
since that sparsely settled and impoverished hamlet along 
the south shore of Charles River was divorced from her 
Cambridge associate, — whether her better or poorer half, the 
oracle saith not, — and set up for herself as an independent 
"Newtowne" municipality, her record has been one of al- 
most continued growth and prosperity, though at first slow, 
yet ever leading onward to higher and higher education and 
culture, and to greater enlargement, influence, and wealth. 
Her twenty original settlers are to-day represented by more 
than as many thousands ; while in place of their aggregate 
property valuation of .£8,536, or about $42,000, Newton's 
real valuation has come to be almost a thousand-fold greater. 
Why, the poorest man among those twenty settlers was 
worth as much as £85, about $425 ; while the richest, Ed- 
ward Jackson, Deacon John Jackson, and Thomas Ham- 
mond, the fortunate possessors respectively of $12,000, 
$6,000, and $5,000, were, so to speak, the "bloated mill- 
ionaires " of their time, though bearing" sorry comparison 



ADDRESS— JULIUS L. CLARKE £c 

with millionaires of our day. In this financial relation it 
may be interesting to know that for the first nine years 
Newton's annual town tax for current expenses averaged 
about $100; for the next twenty-five years, about $450; 
and for the next forty-five years, about $830. While the 
monetary necessities of our now thriving city are con- 
stantly increasing in volume and forcing compliance with 
their demand, a comparison of these beggarly figures with 
present assessments, more than half a million a year, may 
at least create a suspicion that the world moves, and espe- 
cially its " Garden City." 

Of all its public expenditures, whether as town or city, 
none have yielded more welcome return than those devoted 
to educational interests, to which I desire especially to refer, 
though in the few moments assigned me I can do little more 
than picture in briefest outline the marvellous contrast 
between now and then. Of the rise and progress of our 
educational service, let me say, in passing, that here, as else- 
where, the church and the school have been potent factors 
in moulding and developing the character of our population, 
though it is a notable fact that for sixty years after her set- 
tlement Newton had no public or private school, and that 
the meeting-house preceded the school-house by nearly half 
a century, the children meantime having the privilege of 
attending school in Cambridge, four or five miles away, on 
the north side of the Charles, and for which Newton, then 
an integral part of the former, was taxed as early as 1642. 
It is a singular fact in this connection that, while the church 
so long preceded the school in Newton, the former was far 
behind the latter in one very essential improvement, one 
hundred and thirty-two years having elapsed during which no 
such thing as a stove was known in a Newton church, while 
only ninety-seven years passed before her schools were pro- 
vided with that necessary addition, the town voting in 1796 
to purchase five stoves for that purpose. 

The erection of the first school-house, 16X 14 feet, in 1699, 
with Deacon John Staples as master four days in the week 



66 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

at two shillings a day, followed two years later with two 
more, 16X16 feet, one near the First Church at Newton 
Centre and the other at Oak Hill, the same teacher giving 
two-thirds of his time to the former and one-third to the 
latter, proved the beginning of a new era in our school his- 
tory. Though not till sixty-three years later, in 1766, was a 
single schoolmistress employed ; and, when that most desir- 
able innovation did come, the schools were for a considerable 
period classified as "men's schools" and "women's schools," 
the distinction being extended even to appropriations for 
their maintenance. Yet the authorities of that day evidently 
believed in the value of " book learning " ; for parents were 
required to pay ^d. a week for a child "learning to read, and 
.4^. a week for learning to read, write, and cipher." 

With kindest respect for our honored predecessors, it may 
be said that from this little beginning, with its unique regu- 
lations and its little sixteen-foot shanty, has come forth the 
broad, grand educational system now so deservedly the pride 
of our city, and so many of whose school graduates have 
been represented in the ministry, in college and seminary 
professorships, and in every department of public, profes- 
sional, and honorable business life. That little sixteen-footer, 
costing only $100, has given place to twenty or more spa- 
cious school buildings, in which more than 4,000 pupils are 
now enrolled, in nearly ninety schools, under the instruction 
of more than one hundred teachers; while the annual school 
expenditure of $50 or $75 in those first years has now 
reached upwards of $100,000 a year, not including cost of 
buildings, etc., the present valuation of which aggregates 
nearly $600,000, — and all this a living example of Newton's 
noble generosity and progressive spirit. 

In conclusion, we recall in treasured reminiscence and in 
pleasant association very many of high and deserved reputa- 
tion, both as citizens and educators. In the very beginning 
of this notable record, we find two of Newton's town clerks 
prominently identified with her educational development, 
Deacon John Staples officiating as her first public school- 



ADDRESS— JULIUS L. CLARKE Qy 

teacher, and, later on, Marshall S. Rice as the founder of a 
private school for boys, in which more than a thousand 
pupils received their education in greater or less degree. 
Nor should we forget in this connection the once popular 
Female Academy and Boarding School, established in the 
Nonantum House at " Newton Corner," by Mrs. Susannah 
Rowson, the daughter of a British officer, and a lady whose 
literary and educational repute attracted a generous patron- 
age, both home and foreign. Among those of more recent 
note may be named the late venerable Seth Davis, with 
whose educational work, commencing in the early days, 
we are all so familiar, Rev. Cyrus Pierce, Judge Abraham 
Fuller, Dr. Henry Bigelow, Hon. D. H. Mason, and many 
others, of whose faithful and efficient services time forbids 
enumeration. But, closely associated with the extension 
and development of their work, we remember the first Sec- 
retary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, Horace 
Mann, under whose supervision the first State Normal 
School was established in Lexington, afterwards removed 
to West Newton, and subsequently to Framingham, its loss 
to us being fortunately compensated by a popular successor, 
the West Newton English and Classical School. Impor- 
tant also in the same connection may be named the New- 
ton Theological Seminary, opened in 1825, the Lasell 
Female Seminary, in 1851, both well and widely known, 
as have also been various other public and private schools 
before and since. 

In all this history, as has been so well and truthfully said 
by one of our own distinguished historians, I am happy to 
say our " Poet Laureate " on this occasion, " Newton has been 
a benediction to the world through such instrumentalities 
and influences." These, with other tributary agencies, in- 
cluding church and ministry, and last, but not least, various 
public libraries, two of which were founded about the year 
1798, a year before the establishment of the first public 
school, and finally our Free Public Library, so generously 
endowed by the late J. Wiley Edmands and others, and now 



68 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 

becoming a most useful auxiliary to our public school sys- 
tem, its circulation aggregating more than 100,000 volumes 
a year, and exceeding the ratio to population of nearly, if not 
every other city in the Commonwealth, — all these, in con- 
nection with an efficient school administration, past and 
present, have been most helpful co-operators in raising our 
standard of education, culture, and refinement. 

But look back a moment. Two hundred years ! Where, 
where have they gone? Quickly indeed have they disap- 
peared in life's unremitting stream. But not lost. They 
still live in Newton's history, aye, in the world's history! 
The noble men, and the noble women, too, who lived to 
adorn and beautify the pages of that history with good deeds, 
loving ministries, and ennobling influences, have left behind 
a radiant and inspiring example to guide us onward to yet 
higher attainments and richer rewards. For this grand 
record of heroism, patience, faith, and sacrifice, we cannot be 
too grateful ; and may those who shall gather for the observ- 
ance of coming centennials have reason to rejoice in our 
memories, as do we in those of our predecessors. Such 
result will happily exemplify the suggestive truth that in all 
his ceaseless course, armed with glass and scythe, 

" Time is indeed a precious boon, 
But with the boon a task is given : 
The heart must learn its duty well 
To man on earth and God in heaven." 

The audience united in singing "America," after which 
Rev. George W. Shinn, D.D., pronounced the benediction, 
as follows : — 

The Blessing of God Almighty the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost be upon the City of Newton and upon all who dwell therein. 

The Lord be favorable to this place in the time to come, as He has 
been in the time that is past. 

May its citizens be law-abiding and upright, may its homes be pure 
and happy, may its institutions of learning and benevolence flourish, and 
may the principles of the Christian Faith be so truly received and so 
truly followed here by all the people of this place that the City of New- 
ton may receive especial favor from the Lord, whose blessing maketh 
rich and addeth no sorrow. 



BANQUET. 

About one hundred gentlemen, at six o'clock, Sphered at 
the Woodland Park Hotel. His Honor the Mayor, J. Wesley 
Kimball, presided. In the absence of His Excellency the 
Governor, the Commonwealth was represented by His Honor 
the Lieutenant Governor, John Q. A. Brackett. Other 
guests of the city were: Hon. Henry N Frsher Mayor of 
Waltham ; Hon. Mark F. Burns, Mayor of Somervdle Hon. 
George W. Hart, Mayor of Lynn ; Hon. John J. Whipple 
e^-Mayor of Brockton. Of the Newton City Government 
there were present : Aldermen James H. Nickerson, N. Henry 
Chadwick, Frederick Johnson, and John Ward ; Couno men 
Heman M. Burr, president and Mayor-elect ; Albert W. 
R^ Henry H. Hunt, Frank J. Hale, Ephraim S. Hamblen 
Eloenel H. Greenwood, and Henry H- Read; Rev^G W. 
Shinn, D.D., of the School Committee ; Wmfield S Slocum, 
City Solicitor and Representative to the General Court: 
Albert F. Noyes, City Engineer ; Albert S Glover Water 
Registrar; Samuel M. Jackson and Howard B. Coffin, As 
feslors; Joseph D. Wellington, City Messenger Of forme 
members of the City Council there were present : ex-Mayors 
Tames F C Hyde and William B. Fowle ; ex-Aldermen Otis 
James r.u.ny t Henry E . Cobb, Noah W. 

Pettee, Vernon E. Carpenter, nemj > 

Farley George M. Fiske, Samuel L. Powers, and Austin R. 
M chell; ex-Councilmen J. Sturgis Potter Joseph W. Stove , 
Prescott C. Bridgham, Luther E. Leland William Pe.rce, 
Edward M. Billings, Henry F. Ross, and Lewis E. Coffin, 
ex-City Clerk Julius L. Clarke. 

Other citizens were Rev. Daniel L. Furber, D.D Re* 
Theodore J. Holmes, John S. Farlow, Isaac T. Burr, John 



70 



TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY— NEWTON 



B. Goodrich, William E. Plummer, George B. Wilbur, Ed- 
ward H. Pierce, Austin T. Sylvester, Samuel Hano, George 
T. Coppins, Edward F. Barnes, M. J. Duane, O. C. Liver- 
more, F. W. Turner, Chandler Seaver, Jr., C. E. Sweet, 
D. F. Parker, C. H. Johnson, W. F. Chapman, R. E. Ashen- 
den, and William C. Brown. 

After partaking of the very substantial dinner, served in 
accordance with the menu on page 71, interesting speeches 
were made by Lieutenant Governor Brackett, ex-Mayor 
Whipple, William E. Plummer, City Solicitor Slocum, ex- 
Alderman Powers, and others. The occasion was enlivened 
by vocal selections from the Temple Quartette, composed of 
the following-named gentlemen : William R. Bateman, first 
tenor ; Edwin F. Webber, second tenor ; Henry A. Cook, 
baritone ; Albert C. Ryder, bass. 

The selections sung were : — 

" Hurrah for the Field," Schmolzer 

" Three Huntsmen," Kreutzer 

" In Absence " Buck 

" Waltz," Lamothe 

" Hail, Smiling Morn," Spofforth 

Vocal March, "Now forward," Storch 

It is worthy of note that the Woodland Park Hotel has 
obtained an enviable reputation under the skilful conduct 
of the proprietor, Joseph Lee, and his estimable wife, who 
apparently suffer no detriment from the fact of their nativity 
being of the race so recently emancipated from what was 
fitly described by the late Senator Sumner as the " Barba- 
rism of Slavery." 



DUNlNcK y w0 Hundredth Anniversary 

WGOdlaild Pari) Hotel of the Incorporation of 

Thursday, Dec. 27, 18S8. the Town of Newton - 

BLUEPOINTS ON HALF SHELL. 

MOCK TURTLE CONSOMME. 

TURBOT A LA TARTARE. 

ROAST BEEF. ROAST TURKEY. 

SADDLE OF MUTTON. 

BOILED PHILADELPHIA CAPON, CELERY SAUCE. 

POTATO CROQUETTES, ESCALLOPED TOMATOES. 

MACARONI AU GRATIN, CELERY. 

CHICKEN CROQUETTES, FRENCH PEAS. 

ROMAN PUNCH. 

MALLARD DUCKS, DRESSED CELERY. 
CURRANT JELLY. 

LOBSTER SALAD. 

FROZEN PUDDING. HARLEQUIN CREAM. CHARLOTTE RUSSE. 

ORANGE SHERBET. LEMON SHERBET. 

ROQUEFORT AND NEUCHATEL CHEESE. 

CRACKERS. OLIVES 

NUTS AND RAISINS. ASSORTED FRUIT. 

COFFEE. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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